(Credit: AND Architecture, 2018)
2018: This proposed six-floor condominium at 53 Putnam St. was never built. The developer is now proposing a five-floor affordable housing apartment building, and the city is helping the developer apply for a state grant.
The City of Saratoga Springs plans to support Putnam Resources LLC application for a Restore NY, Communities Initiative Municipal Grant to redevelop 53 Putnam Place, a former brownfield site in downtown. Mayor Ron Kim plans to bring a resolution to the city council at their meeting Tuesday Jan. 17.
Late last year, Putnam Resources with an engineering firm cleared the brownfield property for development. It sits across Putnam Street from the Saratoga Springs Public Library parking lot. Putnam Resources’ website says they took full control of the property last April.
[Read our story about the clean-up here.]
“The project will entail construction of a five-story building inclusive of mixed-income housing units. The energy-efficient structure will allow individuals and families to live within Saratoga Springs close to public transportation and employment opportunities,” the mayor’s resolution says. It will “promote both economic development and preservation of community resources, and the project develops and enhances infrastructure and/or other facilities in a manner that will attract, create and sustain employment opportunities in the City of Saratoga Springs.”
Putnam Resources has been trying to redevelop the property since at least 2013, according to city planning records and a post about the property on the company’s website.
In 2018, they proposed to build a six-floor, 40-unit condominium including underground parking and rooftop deck. It was planned but never built. That proposal included a restaurant on the ground floor and two levels of parking beneath.
This iteration has an affordable housing component. It is unclear if the full building will be affordable or if affordable will be mixed in with market-rate units.
Laura Manning, with the real estate consulting firm First Fairfield Associates, is listed as the contact for Putnam Resources on state documents. A late phone call to her office was not answered.
The Fairfield Associates website says: “This was the culmination of an eight year process, which First Fairfield began in 2013. We are now in discussions with Capital District developers to embark on a joint venture to develop the site.”
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the site was developed in the early 1900s as a single-floor, concrete block building and was used as an ice-skating rink and garage until about 1925, when the building was used for dry cleaning and laundry services. From 1960 to 1986, the property lay vacant then used as truck storage into the 2000s. It was demolished as part of the redevelopment in 2019.
Proposals for Round 7 of the funding are due Jan. 27.