Spa City leaders lay out ‘site-specific’ affordable housing plan

SARATOGA SPRINGS — With rents on the rise and jobs to fill, political and business leaders on Tuesday asked the community to help them make the city a place where everyday workers can live — affordably. 

“The stars are aligning for us as a city,” Mayor Joanne Yepsen said at a news conference at City Hall. “We know the need is getting worse, and if we don’t do something soon, we are going to be waking up here in 10 years with an older, aging, wealthy population in the city and that, we know, is not helping our local economy grow.”

Yepsen called the news conference to lay out proposals for three projects that would add nearly 400 affordable housing units across the city. She said the developers for two of the projects are from out of town, but she assured residents: “This is what they do.” 

They will be seeking funding from New York State Homes and Community Renewal, “and they need the support of this community,” she said.

A housing study commissioned by the city last year found a need for 180 affordable units to accommodate the city’s current workforce.

“All of the sudden — overnight — we could satisfy the need and prepare for the future for a number of years,” said Todd Shimkus, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce president.

He said the projects’ developers should be treated as partners.

“We have to make sure that whatever process we put them through — in terms of the land-use planning boards — is as expeditious and as efficient as possible.”

The three projects are:

—“SoBro,” a 110-unit apartment complex planned for the site of the closed Saratoga Diner on South Broadway. The diner would be demolished to make way for the four-story mixed-use project, which would also include retail on the first and second floors and startup space on the second floor managed by Saratoga Economic Development Corp. KCG Development LLC of Indianapolis is the project’s developer. Rents would be affordable for people who earn between 40 and 100 percent of the area median income, which is between $72,000 and $84,000, Shimkus said. There would be 14 units designated for veterans.

—“Intrada,” a 158-unit project planned for 19 undeveloped acres on Western Avenue. The project, to be spread across four buildings, is being developed by the Vecino Group of Springfield, Missouri. Rents would be affordable for those earning between 50 and 80 percent of the city’s area median income. 

—A 120-unit expansion of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority’s Stonequist Apartments off Circular Street. The apartments would be targeted to people who earn between 40 and 100 percent of the area media income.

Cheryl Hage-Perez, chairwoman of the city’s housing task force, stressed that the proposed units are not “low-income.”

“It’s for people who have an income through employment, but they cannot afford the high rents in the city of Saratoga Springs,” she said. “They are our firemen, our teachers, service workers and hotel workers … and they’re from this community.”

Shimkus said that with the local economy improving and more jobs being created, Chamber members have been saying: “We need more people here. We need more workers. We need more access to talent.” 

“They’ve had to go farther and farther out in order to bring people here, and then you’re running into transportation issues,” he said. “The notion of having workforce housing that’s located within the urban core … is essential for us.”

He added: “We’re thrilled to be working with everyone on a site-specific approach. We think that is far more preferable to changing any zoning.”

City leaders have been debating an inclusionary zoning ordinance that would require developers to make 20 percent of new apartments, for projects exceeding 10 units, affordable. But the proposal has been met with stiff opposition from local developers and lacks the City Council’s full support.

“It really doesn’t have anything to do with this,” Hage-Perez said.

Yepsen added, “It’s a separate proposal, but it’s another potential solution.”

The mayor said she wants the projects to be approved by the city this year, which will “showcase to the state how serious we are about supporting these proposals.”

She attributed the city’s high rents to a “relatively free market” that leaves landowners and buyers to seek the highest profits possible.

“The market has done so well in Saratoga Springs that we need to intervene, offer some tax incentives, tax abatements,” she said.

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