Friday, August 10, 2007 Coming soon to downtown Schenectady: pricey loft apartments
The Business Review (Albany) - by Michael DeMasi The Business Review
DONNA ABBOTT VLAHOS | THE BUSINESS REVIEW
Paul Sciocchetti, one of the developers, says the $2,500 a month rent is not an obstacle. View Larger Dead pigeons were inside a row of derelict buildings in downtown Schenectady when Paul Sciocchetti walked through several years ago.
Back then, there wasn't a new, six-screen movie theater on one end of the State Street block or a 93-room Hampton Inn on the other. Proctor's Theatre had not yet begun a $25 million-plus expansion and renovation of its historic stagehouse and box office area.
Nevertheless, Sciocchetti, a real estate attorney, and well-known restaurateur Angelo Mazzone saw promise in the properties that have stood in the heart of downtown since the horse-and-buggy days.
Last July, they bought the four vacant buildings from the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority for $200,000 and embarked on a $2.5 million to $3 million renovation that will feature a restaurant, retail space, offices and two upscale apartments.
The apartments will take up the entire fourth and fifth floors of the old Clark Witbeck Hardware Co. store, the tallest of the buildings that the partners purchased.
At this point, the interiors are little more than Sheetrock, metal studs and construction materials piled on the floor, but Sciocchetti promises an experience that will turn heads.
Not to mention make some blink at the monthly rent--$2,500--in a city not known for luxury loft apartments downtown.
By comparison, the average rent sought by landlords in Schenectady County during the first half of this year was $761, according to Sunrise Management & Consulting in Colonie.
Sunrise President Jesse Holland was surprised by the high price the developers are asking, but said "they only have to find two people in the whole world" who will pay. "It's an interesting test of the market," he said.
The units will have the kind of amenities that are becoming common in the region's higher-end properties, such as granite kitchen countertops, stainless steel appliances, walk-in closets, a laundry room, exposed ceilings and brick walls.
But the roughly 2,500-square-foot top floor will also feature a custom hide-a-bed that folds into a wall of the guest room/office, a Jacuzzi in the master bedroom and a spiral staircase climbing to a 20-foot-by-20-foot rooftop deck.
Two elevators service the unit. One will open onto a wrought iron and wooden door that is the main entrance. The other elevator is in the rear of the apartment, where the master bedroom is located. Tenants use a key to control who stops on their floor.
Separating the elevator door from the bedroom will be a retractable vertical metal grate, the kind usually seen guarding New York City storefronts at night.
The grate was salvaged during interior demolition and Sciocchetti thought incorporating it into the design would give the loft a real metropolitan feel.
"This is purely for affect and for security," Sciocchetti said during a recent visit to the building.
He doesn't think the rent will be an obstacle to filling the space because the target market is people who expect high-quality amenities and like being within walking distance of theaters, restaurants and bars.Both units are expected to be ready for occupancy by the end of September.
The plan is to find a tenant for the fourth floor but keep the fifth floor vacant for about six months so it can be a showpiece for downtown living.
The contractor heading up the project, Tom Picozzi of TMP Construction Services LLC in Schenectady, said the buildings are structurally sound, but it's been a challenge because some have different floor heights and were not previously linked through the interior. Mazzone and Sciocchetti have spared no expense in renovating the Clark Witbeck and the adjoining properties, he said.
"They are two strong-willed guys with a lot of energy," Picozzi said.
The cost has exceeded the $50,000 to $100,000 that Sciocchetti and Mazzone budgeted to spend on renovations for each of the apartments.
Sciocchetti estimated the renovations will end up costing $150,000 to $200,000 per unit, or roughly $60 to $80 per square foot.
The overall cost for the four-building project, which was pegged at $2.5 million to $3 million, is a "moving target," he said. "We had to do a lot more demolition than we ever imagined," Sciocchetti said.
The Metroplex, an economic development agency funded by a portion of the county sales tax, is providing a $350,000 facade improvement grant and $1.3 million loan. Thus far, Sciocchetti and Mazzone have paid their share of the expenses out-of-pocket, although they have access to private financing if they need it.
On the ground floor, all or part of three buildings will be a tapas bistro/wine bar called aperitivo, which Mazzone will own.
It's a homecoming of sorts for Mazzone, who opened his first restaurant, Peggy's, in downtown Schenectady in 1980, in the same space. Today, Mazzone owns the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia and Angelo's 677 Prime in Albany, and caters events at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Springs, the Inn at Erlowest in Lake George and the Saratoga National Golf Club.
aperitivo, which is expected to open in September, will have an upscale, energetic atmosphere with bistro tables inside and out, an open kitchen with wood-fired ovens and bright yellow, high-backed booths that Sciocchetti described as "Alice in Wonderland-type furniture."
The remainder of the buildings will feature retail and office space. So far, a cigar shop has committed to filling a storefront, and an advertising agency already in Schenectady, The Mossey Group, will occupy 4,700 square feet on the third floor.
Owner Larry Mossey said his growing agency employs seven people. Three or four others will work for a video production company, The Mountain View Group, in the same offices.
"I grew up on these streets," Mossey said. "I want to see a comeback."
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
NO! Still available for Metrograft Cheerleaders! Belly up to the Bar!!
I am working on another sad chapter on Metrograft "efforts". Waiting for confirmation on some inside info from very reliable Downtown sources. Nuf said?
NO! Still available for Metrograft Cheerleaders! Belly up to the Bar!!
I am working on another sad chapter on Metrograft "efforts". Waiting for confirmation on some inside info from very reliable Downtown sources. Nuf said?
Well we know that if it will put the plex in a yet another bad light, we will never read about it in the gazette. Actually, the gazette doesn't report too much of anything that has to do with Schenectady. Most of the articles are all AP's. The gazette doesn't even print all of the crime issues any more. A reverse try at making the city appear safe. NOT!
Let's face it...there is nothing GOOD to print about Schenectady. Our wonderful elected officials, with the help of the plex have just about driven it into the ground.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Well we know that if it will put the plex in a yet another bad light, we will never read about it in the gazette. Actually, the gazette doesn't report too much of anything that has to do with Schenectady. Most of the articles are all AP's. The gazette doesn't even print all of the crime issues any more. A reverse try at making the city appear safe. NOT!
Let's face it...there is nothing GOOD to print about Schenectady. Our wonderful elected officials, with the help of the plex have just about driven it into the ground.
Sorry Bumble, I gotta disagree with you on that one. If we don't view the bottle as half FULL then everything will look "half empty" There _IS_ good to print about Schenectady.
There's good work being done every day by places like the Rotary, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, teachers that spend extra time with students, students themselves that make a difference, activity volunteers that work at non-profits like the library, Literacy Volunteers of America, the teenager that volunteers at a nursing home, the folks that make up meals-on-wheels, the group from church that visits shut-ins at the hospital, nursing home or private homes. There's individuals that help neighbors, and that person that made a holiday dinner, or any dinner for their less fortunate neighbor - just because. There's the nurse that went the extra step to help a patient, doctors that are proactive and check on their patients at night or during the weekend with a "check up call". There's positive events like the Niskayuna woman who was helped by Oprah. There's hundreds if not thousands more that happen every day. There's the shop owner that give a kid a popsicle or ice cream treat even tho the kid didn't have enough pennies with him. There's families that have disabled/injured/sick kids - that still go out of their way to stop by another hospital room to see how someone else is doing. There's positive events at the library, probably daily. There's good Samaritans on the street that help out the less fortunate with a couple extra coins. There's the kid that shovels the neighbors driveway or sidewalk when they can't - and doesn't ask for a penny - a "thank you" will do.
Look around. There's a lot to be pround of in Schenectady. That's why we're all here. We grew up here, we love our city/town. We want to see the positive. How it's being slanted by the media, who get paid when the headline is "shocking" or by any one political party - that's when it doesn't look so rosey. The bad often outweighs the good - and that's what sells newspapers. That's what the politicians will use so put down their opponents or those that think differently.
Schenectady, it's OUR community. We have a right to be PROUD of it. We also have a right to NOT be pround when the bad outweighs the good - and work to correct it. But hell, if we live here and we're not proud of it, who will be?
I agree MT.....and that is why as a nurse there is not a single facility/union that could pay me what I am worth....same for teachers, police officers, office workers, state workers etc.......and the 'people's media' has no freakin' clue......they should just be the dry/factual news....not some feel-good sheep feed......that is where news media belongs.....on the other side of the fence to be observed.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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NO! Still available for Metrograft Cheerleaders! Belly up to the Bar!!
