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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20260708 269 Broadway Site Plan Review Narrative1 269 Broadway Saratoga, LLC Project Narrative Site Plan Review Application - Planning Board Parcel and Applicant Information The property subject to the application is a relatively vacant lot on South Broadway in Saratoga Springs identified as Tax Parcel: 165.75-1-7 (the "Property"). The Property contains a total of approximately .52 acres and is currently utilized for parking. The Property is bounded by lands owned by Saratoga Hospital and NBT Bank to the north, St. Peter's Church (Saratoga Central Catholic High School) to the south, Broadway to the east and Hamilton Street to the west. The Property is currently owned by 269 Broadway Saratoga LLC (the "Applicant"). The Property is located within the Urban Core Zoning District ("UC") and the Historic Review District. The project was recently granted height mass and scale approval by the Design Review Board at the June 17, 2026 meeting. Parcel History This area of Broadway, like much of the area that surrounds Congress Park, was at one time the site of the some of the grand hotels of the mid to late 19th century. Although the exact locations are hard to determine due to the passage of time and changes in lot lines, the Property was at one time home to a portion of the Clarendon Hotel and its impressive piazza and courtyard, which contained the Washington Spring. Directly north of the Property, in the lands currently occupied by NBT Bank and Saratoga Hospital, sat the Columbian Hotel. The Clarendon spanned the entire length of the block of Williams Street on which it sat, from the frontage on Broadway to the frontage on Hamilton Street. The Clarendon formed a backwards "L" shape, with the longest width running along Hamilton Street. The frontage on Broadway had the shortest width for the principal hotel building but was also occupied by an impressive piazza that overlooked a central courtyard that was surrounded on three sides by the building and the piazza. It was in this courtyard that the Washington Spring was located. According to the Sanborn Maps, and confirmed from historical photos contained in the Saratoga Room of the Saratoga Springs Public Library, the Clarendon stood at its highest points five to five and half stories tall- including specifically behind the central courtyard along Hamilton Street. The Columbian, though not quite the size of the Clarendon, in its largest form occupied the same or similar height, reaching five stories in 1884 according to the Sanborn Maps. The Columbian was built in 1875. It did not have a single building ran the length the lot from Broadway to Hamilton Street. However, it did have a separate and prominent stables structure that occupied the same width along the Hamilton frontage that the 2 primary hotel occupied along Broadway. Historic surrounding buildings and properties also had prominent architectural features and size. Across the street from the Property- in the area currently occupied by the Park Place Condominium mixed-use building- in the early 1900s was a 4500 seat capacity Convention Hall, that stood over two stories tall and had two prominent towers. See attached Historic Context Slide. Additionally, there was the Congregation Agudas Achim Synagogue that stood three stories tall and as high as 40 feet. See 1900 - 1954 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Saratoga, Saratoga County, New York, courtesy of the Library of Congress submitted as part of Historical Context. This small stretch of Broadway once served a primary role in the tourist industry of Saratoga Springs, with prominent, tall buildings occupying the skyline. This area anchored Broadway, and provided the beginning of the true "downtown" streetscape with prominent buildings on either side of the street. These buildings gave visual cues to visitors and residents alike that they were leaving the entryway of the "City in the Country", and have found their way into the Spa City itself. Since 1965 the Property has been predominately vacant with the exception of a parking lot.1 It is time to bring this area of Broadway back to its prior prominence as an anchor to Broadway and signal that you have truly entered the Downtown Core of the City. Overview of Proposed Development The Applicant's vision for the Property is to develop a mixed-use building with a ground- floor retail component and high-end, luxury residential condominiums on the upper floors (the "Proposed Development"). To lead the design team of the Proposed Development, the Applicant has engaged Robert A.M. Stern Architects ("RAMSA")- a 250-person firm employing architects, interior designers and landscape architects based in New York City and serving clients around the world. Their work is guided by the history, physical context, diversity and cultural significance of the places where they build. The firm maintains attention to detail and commitment to design quality that continues to earn international recognition, numerous awards, and citations for planning and design excellence. The team at RAMSA has spent months visiting Saratoga Springs, reviewing its historic and current architecture to immerse themselves in the feeling of Downtown Saratoga 1 In 2022, the Design Review Board along with the Planning Board approved a different project at this site for the Applicant (the "Prior Project"). Although it was reviewed under the 2012 Zoning Code, the Prior Project received approval to construct a mixed-use building with full build out on both Broadway and Hamilton Street with a maximum height of 70 feet on Broadway and 65 feet on Hamilton. 3 Springs in order to develop a vision for the Proposed Development. Renderings and elevations of the Proposed Development are submitted herewith, as well as some preliminary floor plans. The Applicant has also engaged Studio A, P.C. to conduct the landscape work. Along with RAMSA, Studio has developed a cohesive, full-site design that honors the historical significance of the area, and matches the wishes for future development in the area contained in the UDO. Saratoga Springs has a deep and rich environment of architectural styles, expressions, and types. It also has a series of well-defined neighborhoods which hold together architecturally in their common topologies and uses. Understanding this, RAMSA began its design of the project with the goal of utilizing design tools appropriate for this city. The compositional clarity, asymmetrical and symmetrical massing, and the classical details of Saratoga's Gilded Age facades along nearby Union Avenue serve as relevant precedents for this site. Meanwhile the human scale, materiality, and residential character of the East Side reinforce the fact that we are creating homes and a neighborhood for people to live their daily lives. Along Broadway, the assertive collection of 19th- and early 20th-century masonry commercial buildings provides a strong urban model, where consistent street walls, active and open ground floors, and mixed-use programming contribute to a cohesive and stimulating pedestrian-oriented environment. Fine-grain articulated storefronts are balanced with larger-scale architectural facade elements that tie multiples scales of each building into a greater whole. Located at a key intersection south of these neighborhoods, 269 Broadway serves as both a pedestrian and vehicular gateway into downtown Saratoga Springs from the south. The site benefits from exceptional walkability; its ten-minute walking radii connect residents to the vibrant civic and commercial Upper Broadway, historic Congress Park, and the rich residential neighborhoods of Union Avenue, Eastside and Franklin Square. It lands directly in the middle of the Congress Park Historic District, which is a historic hub for visitors and residents of Saratoga Springs to experience the "health and history" of the springs located there. The immediate context around 269 reveals buildings with a range of relationships to the street. Some buildings reinforce the street wall, while others are set back and read as freestanding objects. The project responds to this diversity of surrounding conditions by balancing both, creating a composition that engages the street while also allowing for an irregular massing in the courtyard center that provides visual and spatial relief. 4 RAMSA's design approach synthesizes the range of Saratoga's influences through a combination of formal ordering and compositions that have dynamic balance. The strong street wall precedent of Upper Broadway informs our larger-scale massing, with continuity and urban presence as an objective. At the same time, the Italianate, Shingle, Richardsonian and Queen Anne vocabulary found in many of Saratoga's late 19th-century buildings provides the tools to address the varied frontages facing this site. Asymmetry, varied rooflines, and articulated volumes acknowledges that the project is not defined by a single facade, but by a series of interconnected elevations that respond to distinct urban edges. Precedents such as the Algonquin, the Canfield Casino, and the Grand Union Hotel, are examples of the balance between cohesion and dynamism. These buildings demonstrate how complex programs are integrated into unified architectural compositions. Drawing from these examples, 269 Broadway seeks to create a building that is both contextual but also has its own identity. One that reflects the layered history, pedestrian vitality, and architectural excellence that define Saratoga Springs. 269 Broadway's spatial organization begins with a clear, elegant plan diagram. Two primary masses meet each street, one facing east to the public spine of Broadway and a second facing west to the quieter Hamilton. Linking these two masses, a center mass pulls back to the northern edge, creating a south-facing courtyard which will have light throughout the day. On the ground floor, the building responds with lobby amenities and retail spaces appropriately to the differing conditions at each edge. The central courtyard unites the uses of the building at the center. At Broadway, retail spaces open to the street with doors and large store fronts, and a convenience lobby gives residents access to downtown and supports the future healthy pedestrian environment of Broadway. From Hamilton Street, a weather-protected drop-off is cut into the building mass, providing access to the residential lobby, amenity areas, and apartments while maintaining the street wall of Hamilton. In the center, ground-floor amenities are oriented toward a south-facing courtyard, with circulation connecting two elevator cores and maintaining continuous visual and physical access to this shared open space and central organizing element. Designed as a complete usable outdoor room that integrates planting, facade articulation, paving, and seating, the courtyard anchors the center of the massing while allowing light and air into the building. The building steps at the fifth and sixth floors reinforce this plan idea. The basement accommodates parking below grade, accessed via a ramp that flows 5 logically from the covered drop-off area. Additionally, trash removal will be located in the basement and long-term bicycle parking areas. Within the parking areas, ADA parking will be provided and accessible by an elevator corridor immediately adjacent. Typical residential floors are thoughtfully laid out to be oriented to views and light, with public and private zones taking advantage of the site's different conditions of enclosed courtyard views, and diagonal street vistas. The floorplans are arranged with seven units per level, oriented to the east, south, and west, and include private loggias that extend living spaces outdoors. At the roof level, the building masses are articulated into groupings of smaller pavilion- like volumes, creating a landscape of roof forms and outdoor terraces that will contribute to the skyline of Saratoga. Centralized amenity spaces open onto a south-facing roof terrace, a lovely gathering space with greenery, water, and views. The Applicant's goal is to provide the City with an anchoring structure of architectural importance to catch the eyes of travelers and residents and signify the entry into the historic downtown. The utilization of the Proposed Development will provide unique opportunities for residential purchasers to have unmatched, dedicated amenities with individualized and unique units with impeccable views of the City. The build-out of the Proposed Development will serve to anchor the street wall in the Urban Core and provide a leading example for any further new/in-fill development in the area. The Proposed Development will honor the history of the architectural prominence in this area of Broadway, relate to existing prominent architectural features within the City, and reinvigorate and energize this section of Broadway with new residential users eager to experience all of what urban, downtown living in Saratoga Springs can offer. UDO Compliance The Proposed Development is fully code compliant with respect to the UDO standards for the Urban Core. In the UC zone, maximum building height is either 70 feet or 1.1 times the width of the right-of-way, whichever is less. See Table 4-C to the UDO. Here, Broadway has a 75-foot right-of-way and Hamilton Street has a 50-foot right-of-way-which would independently have maximum heights of 70 feet and 55 feet respectively. However, the Property is a through-lot, spanning the entire block width and fronting on both rights of way. The Applicant has confirmed with the City Zoning Officer that in situations where a property fronts on two rights-of-way with differing widths, there shall be a maximum base height established by the higher of the two values, but along the frontage of the narrower right of way, the building height at the ground floor facade line must abide by the maximum 6 height for that frontage, with a Building Height Stepback of at least ten feet before continuing to the base maximum height. When applied to the Property, the maximum base height shall be 70 feet, with a maximum height of 55 feet along the Hamilton Street frontage for the facade on the ground floor facade line, with a Building Height Stepback of at least 10 feet until the building height can continue up to the maximum base height of 70 feet. The Proposed Development has a base height of 70.00 feet, pursuant to the calculation for determining height within the UDO measurements in Article 21 and shown in the accompanying renderings. It also meets the requirement of a 55-foot maximum height along the Hamilton Street frontage, which then provides for a stepback of ten feet after the fourth floor (52.30 feet of height) before reaching the maximum height of 70.00 feet at the penthouse floor. Further, it satisfies the build-to-zone requirement of zero to 12 feet from both lot lines that abut public rights-of-way. Additionally, the Proposed Development builds out fully to each of the two side lot lines. The design of the Proposed Development however provides for an internal courtyard along the southern lot line, that reduces significantly the massing of the building. 269 Broadway is a project that successfully meets four very different edges. At both Broadway and Hamilton Streets, the building's massing and elevations break down the scale of the project with a series of smaller compositions, localized symmetries, and logical setbacks. These elements are carefully balanced by a common brick, stone, and metal detailing language, widows of consistent grouping and dimension, and a clear base, middle, and top composition. The result is a project that is both cohesive and residential in its feel. At the center, a south-facing courtyard provides light, air, and views for residents and organizes the building's public spaces at the ground and top levels. The upper levels are strategically composed to break down the overall scale and, as a result, the perceived height and mass. At the fifth and sixth floors, the building steps down from north to south, opening the massing to light and views. The north elevation steps both in plan and elevation providing a dynamic but unified massing on the skyline. Special attention has been given to the pedestrian level. Open glass storefronts, red stone piers, retail and residential canopies welcome users to the project along Broadway. A tower reinforces Broadway's entry into the downtown district. At Hamilton, a generous covered drop-off maintains the street wall, while clearly indicating entry for both pedestrians and automobiles. Consistent with the rest of the building, patterned brick panels, window groups, and arch windows provide human scale. 7 As part of the stepped composition of the building, the Applicant has proposed an Optional Height Exception on the Broadway facade. The proposed Optional Height Exception allows for the Broadway facade to feature a tower element, similar to the towers utilized on the historic Convention Hall that previously existed across Broadway. This tower element adds less than eight additional feet in height above the maximum building height and occupies only 18.7% (16 feet) of the Broadway facade, when 35% is allowed. See Table 4-C of the UDO re: Optional Height Exception. Finally, the proposed site layout meets all the UC Zone Design Standards for Building Orientation and Site Design found in Table 4-E of the UDO – namely a building oriented to the two streets, sufficient off-street parking, pedestrian and bicycle access, and a cohesive visual character between the hardscape and landscape elements. Site Design Specifics The right of way improvements will follow City of Saratoga Springs design standards. The Application proposes concrete sidewalks along Broadway and Hamilton Street. A portion will be replaced between the subject parcel and the adjacent Hospital parcel on Hamilton. Two new street trees are proposed on Hamilton Street. An existing tree on the northeast of the building is to remain with an additional tree proposed to the south along Broadway. Pedestrian lighting will be in compliance with City standards along both frontages. The Applicant will also provide new pedestrian lighting on its building to light the pedestrian walkway along the north property line on the Hospital and NBT Bank properties. Public utility connections will be in Hamilton Street. This will allow for limited disruption of Broadway traffic during construction. The Applicant is working with neighbors to the north to establish additional permanent utility easements for electrical service elements and temporary construction easements. Stormwater is proposed through various ways such as green roof, raised planters, permeable pavers, and underground storage on the adjacent parcel to the south through an existing easement with St. Peters Church. Associated Historic Review Approval by Design Review The Proposed Development has received Design Review Board approval for Height, Scale, Mass and Open Space. The Design Review Board also provided positive feedback with respect to the front setbacks on both Broadway and Hamilton Street, indicating they felt a full build out was appropriate.