There is renewed movement on a condominium and apartment project along the Mohawk River that has been before the Colonie Planning Board for the past three years.
The town granted a Planned Development District approval for Mohawk Riverfront Estates, located at 1360 Loudon Road, but the project was halted for other regulatory reasons encountered with the New York State Canal Corporation, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Environmental Conservation. After three years, the developers have received clearances.
James Easton of WSP Sells engineers, representing developer Pat Cavanaugh, came before the Planning Board on Tuesday, Jan. 22, to reiterate the project’s plans, since many of the board members weren’t on the board at the time of the original PDD designation.
The new estate would sit along the Mohawk River on Route 9, near the Crescent Bridge. The location is currently a trailer park located behind Seymour’s Motorized Sports and is home to about 50 mobile homes. Plans call for removal of the trailer park and construction of 92 condominium units, 30 rental apartment units and a 10,000-square-foot office. Several of the condominium units would face the water and each condominium would have its own garage.
A 4,000-square-foot clubhouse would be built close to the water and be equipped with a meeting room, small exercise room, bathrooms and an entranceway to a pool. Part of the PDD approval included extra parking spaces for townspeople to have access to the water for unloading canoes and walking, Easton said. There would also be a multi-use path along the river as well as park benches.
“I think that’s a great public benefit,” said Planning Board Chairman Peter Stuto.
A restaurant is a potential new idea on the minds of developers. Easton said although they aren’t putting it into to the plans, they are adding infrastructure including water and sewer capacity so they have the ability to add a restaurant in the future. The developer would have to appear before the Planning Board again with restaurant plans as a completely separate project.
Easton said the current plan is to build the entire parking lot, add the pump station, apartment building, clubhouse and the first 14-unit building closest to the clubhouse. Cavanaugh added they have paid $4,000 to each mobile home resident to help them relocate, and almost all have already moved out.
The developer hopes to begin construction this summer. Prices on the units have not yet been set.
