More luxury units get OK

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A seven-building, 84-unit addition to the sprawling, 336-unit Paddocks of Saratoga apartment complex has been approved.

The luxury rental apartment project on Old Gick Road, located on 55 acres of former cornfields, was started in early 2007.

Approximately 150 apartment units in a dozen buildings have been completed at the site just east of the Northway.

“Already there are well over 100 units occupied or leases have been signed on them,” said William Hoblock, a managing director of developer Capital District Properties LLC of Latham.

“Leasing is very strong,” Hoblock said. “It only gets stronger as we move into the spring leasing season.”

The Wilton town Planning Board approved the site plans for the 13.6-acre addition to the complex this week.

Town Planner Kate Maynard recommended that the addition have a second access onto Gick Road.

Hoblock said a second access is being planned but for emergency vehicles only. He said the developers want apartment residents to enter through the landscaped main boulevard.

Capt. Gary Bullard of the Maple Avenue Fire Company asked if the emergency access would be plowed during the winter months. Hoblock said this access will be plowed by the project owners. The apartments are also served by sprinkler systems for fire safety, he said.

Hoblock also agreed to give the town an easement for a sidewalk being proposed along Old Gick Road that would connect to sidewalks in the apartment complex.

The town is seeking a federal grant to locate a sidewalk along Old Gick Road to the Shoppes of Wilton plaza on Route 50.

Hoblock said on Friday the Paddocks of Saratoga project has three phases. The first phase of 192 units will be finished in June. The second phase of 144 units will be started immediately after that.

The third, 84-unit phase just approved will be “market driven” but will probably be started next construction season, he said.

When the project is built out it will include 420 units in 35 buildings.

“We get one building every two weeks,” Hoblock said about construction of the apartment units.

“As fast as they are being turned over, they are leased,” Hoblock said.

The Wilton Town Board approved rezoning for the 84-unit addition last fall. The rezoning for the first two phases of the project was approved by the town in 2006.

Hoblock said the upscale rental apartments are being marketed to “empty-nest” senior citizens as well as young professionals.

All units have their own garage and separate entrance. A one-bedroom unit rents for about $1,100 per month, while the top-of-the-line, two bedroom unit with den rents in the $1,800 range, Hoblock said.

A clubhouse with an indoor health club and an outdoor swimming pool that just opened are amenities free to apartment renters.

“The response has been great,” Hoblock said. “The town likes what it sees.”

Hoblock said the rental apartments provide people with luxury housing without the burden of taxes or homeowner’s association fees.

For example, one retired couple who recently leased an apartment split their time between Naples, Fla. and Wilton, Hoblock said. He said these people don’t have to worry about maintaining a house or condominium while they spend six months in Florida.