It seems everyone is talking about change these days.
And in the Town of Malta, there is a definite point at which it will begin: when ground is broken on an Advanced Micro Devices subsidiary fabrication facility, a $4.6 billion project that AMD hopes to have running in 2011. It’s been called the most important economic development in the state’s history, and with it a huge influx of jobs is expected to come to the area.
There are estimates on the table, including figures from AMD that say the project will bring the immediate area about 6,500 sustained, long-term jobs, as well as up to 4,300 temporary jobs during the construction of the facility.
It is hard to say exactly how many of these supposed jobs will be filled by current residents of Malta and the surrounding area, and how many will be snagged by those relocating. AMD officials have said it is likely that Fab 4X will be initially staffed by a work force largely made up of the company’s current employees, and locals will be phased in over time as education and training programs across the region come online and expand.
If that is to be the case, many temporary workers will no doubt want temporary housing.
`Right now, we’re experiencing a lot more rental requests than we did in the past,` said Bruce McClellan, broker/owner of Pinnacle Realty, which has offices in Malta and Saratoga Springs. `From the real estate perspective, it’s one of the most exciting things going on in the market.`
According to September statistics released by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors, the number of home sales closed across the Capital District dropped 13 percent from a year prior. In Saratoga County, the figure was 17 percent.
Those numbers don’t worry Nelson VanUllen, branch manager at RealtyUSA’s Clifton Park office.
`Saratoga County has been a county in growth for the last 15 years,` he said. `During the so-called housing crisis, we’ve really fared much better than other areas.`
That’s chiefly because home prices didn’t grow out of control over the past few years, so the collapse of the mortgage market was not quite as painful in the Capital District. With the credit crunch in full swing and most Americans bracing for an economic downturn, it’s not surprising that many are forgoing mortgaging a house, but with the region poised for growth, most realtors are optimistic about the future.
`It’s one thing to sit there and be optimistic without a cause, but I think that we have a reason,` said Stephen Towne, chief operating officer at Roohan Realty. `It’s been a tough go for a lot of folks, but I think there’s a real optimism that things will start improving.`
Realtors aren’t only optimistic about residential offerings, but also an increased demand for business space along Route 9 in Malta near the proposed downtown area. New developments offering both are being built presently.
Park Place, sitting on 60 acres of land, is slated to hold 238 condominium units, 60 single-family homes and roughly 115,000 square feet of retail space. The first buildings have already been erected, including a sales office.
Just down the road, Ellsworth Commons will be a more compact development, but still will hold 310 apartments, 21 homes and 70,000-square-feet of retail space on its Route 9 plot of land directly opposite town hall. Developer Albany Partners LLC, who created the nearby Steeplechase Apartments, would hope to have the site up and running by the time AMD opens its doors.
Closer to Fab4X itself, homebuilder Thomas J. Farone and Sons bought 66 acres of land at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in April. The Gansevoort-based firm’s exact plans for the plot were not available.
Both Ellsworth Commons and Park Place were begun long before AMD committed to building in Malta.
The two projects aim to be a part of plans for Malta’s downtown area. The town has been crafting a set of standards for downtown development for years, and it is often a process complicated by differing visions of what Malta should look like when `built out,` and the delicate nature of looking years into the future.
`Once we develop, if we do it the wrong way, it would be somewhat irreversible,` said Town of Malta Supervisor Paul Sausville. He doesn’t anticipate a population explosion in Malta, but said that with the influx of businesses every decision must be made with care.
`I think we need to be in balance with ourselves,` he said. `We need to honor and respect our small town character.“