By Paul Post
Gregg Singer and Larissa Ovitt are bridging a gap in Glens Falls’ downtown revitalization, which took a giant leap forward with the long-anticipated groundbreaking for a $4.5 million Market Center on South Street.
State and city officials tossed shovels full of dirt to mark the momentous occasion, the latest in a series of projects contributing to Hometown USA’s rebirth.
While dust was still settling, Singer and Ovitt welcomed guests to their new cozy business, Golden Monkey Lounge, directly across the street. They’ve spent more than a half-million dollars refurbishing the building near the west end of South Street, which is also home to a new Taco Kings Jalisco eatery.
“The city wants to turn this into an event block,” Ovitt said. “We’re working on this building to make something that works in collaboration with everything that continues, not just across the street, but coming up South Street and downtown as a whole. It’s certainly very encouraging now that they’re running full speed ahead with the Market Center.”
South Street’s revitalization will link small businesses around the corner, on Broad Street, with the city’s core on Glen Street, Singer said.
The 6,000-square-foot Market Center will become a year-round home for Glens Falls Farmer’s Market and is designed to host a wide variety of community events. Eventually, it could be the focal point of large outdoor festival-type gatherings when South Street is temporarily closed off.
South Street long ago earned the nickname “street of dreams” because it was a place where people with hope, hard work and a little money could earn a slice of the American pie. More recently, the term was used derisively because the street had fallen into a state of decline evidenced by closed, boarded-up storefronts in several buildings.
“We hope this Market Center will catalyze the entire block,” Mayor Bill Collins said. “We dream of a day when events are so large, requiring us to close down both ends of South Street. When that happens we will have a new name, the ‘street of dreams come true’.”
Funding for the project comes from a $10 million state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant the city obtained in 2017. A separate $500,000 grant is expected to pay for a new pocket park on the site, adjacent to the former Hot Shots tavern building.
Work on the Market Center, by Latham-based Bunkoff General Contractors, is expected to start soon and be completed next fall.
“I am hoping for September 30 (2024), but so much seems to be at the mercy of outside forces these days,” said Jeff Flagg, city director of economic development.
Singer and Ovitt are among the many entrepreneurs investing large sums in downtown Glens Falls in recent years. They purchased their building (58-66 South Street) last February for $325,000 followed by extensive renovations.
Plans call for opening a third first-floor business, an eco-friendly market offering everything from “green” household cleaning products to spices, teas and cut flowers in the near future. The building’s second floor is also being remodeled to house boutique-type apartments where out-of-town tourists and visitors can make short-term stays.
“We’re happy that we’re helping advance the street,” Singer said. “We just wanted to be part of it; kind of get the rush going as it expands.”
Golden Monkey Lounge has a modern craft cocktail bar on one side, and a relaxing space with carpeting, couches and ottomans on the other, separated by a wall adorned with books and hanging plants. A new garage-type overhead door has been installed, creating an open-air atmosphere for summer nights. Out back, there’s a small stage for live entertainment.
But this building and the new Market Center are only small parts of a major South Street overhaul expected to unfold during the next few years.
Spring City Development, a subsidiary of Saratoga Springs-based Bonacio Construction, has plans for a large commercial-residential structure (69 apartments) where Glens Falls Farmer’s Market is currently located. The building will wrap around the former Sandy’s Clam Bar, which the firm plans to rejuvenate in addition to the former Hot Shots tavern.
Also, a business incubator will be located behind Hot Shots at 36 Elm Street.
Flagg said the city will soon turn its attention to the future of a large, vacant building directly across from Hot Shots at the corner of South and Elm streets. The structure has several boarded up storefronts and broken windows overhead.
“I believe there are approved plans from the owner, Chad Nims, to rehab this building into a mixed-use structure, but I have neither seen nor heard of any activity of late,” Flagg said.
The city’s $10 million state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant is one of many awarded across New York, designed to provide multi-pronged financial support for communities to re-imagine their downtown areas, restore or replace downtrodden buildings, create walk-able spaces, foster economic growth and leverage increased private investment, Collins said.
“In short, to revitalize the tired parts of our cities,” he said.
Lesley Zlatev, New York State Department of State revitalization specialist, said the new Market Center will create “new exciting opportunities for local retailers, entrepreneurs and farmers.”
“With the Market Center’s completion, the economic and business development of South Street will experience more gains with the creation of more business and job growth,” she said. “The Market Center is bringing new life to this corridor of Glens Falls.
It will be a transformative project for downtown, which has become a magnet for redevelopment.”
Some of the $10 million grant funded SUNY Adirondack’s culinary center move to 14 Hudson Street, creating jobs and expanding the local area’s culinary talent. Money has also paid for a public arts trail with six murals completed to date and more in the planning stages.
And a portion of the grant established a fund to help small business owners pay for improvements in the wake of the extremely challenging COVID-19 pandemic.
Collins cited former mayors Jack Diamond and Dan Hall and the city’s late economic development director, Ed Bartholomew, for obtaining and overseeing sound use of the $10 million state grant.
“Today developers, business owners and entrepreneurs are moving into the downtown area restoring buildings, setting up businesses, directly and indirectly supported by the shot in the arm the DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) has provided,” he said.