Category Archives: Summer Construction

By Paul Post

Hilltop Construction thrives in a challenging, competitive industry with a mix of commercial and custom home residential projects.

It’s a strategy the Queensbury-based firm has followed since its founding in 1976.

“We try to be diversified in what we do, which helps in different economic environments,” co-owner Dan Washburn said. “If the residential market is healthy and commercial isn’t, we’ve got the residential side to work with and vice versa. It makes it easier to adapt to ever-changing conditions that affect different industries.”

“Business is really good now on both sides,” he said. “We’ve got a solid workload into spring of 2025.”

This summer, Hilltop is doing everything from a ZZ Mobil Mart convenience store in Malta to a passive solar home in Brant Lake and a new Stewart’s Shop in Hoosick.

Washburn handles commercial projects while his brother-in-law, Tom Albrecht Jr., oversees residential development. Washburn, his wife, April (Treasurer/Office Manager), and Tom Jr.purchased Hilltop several years ago from its founders, Tom Albrecht Sr. and his wife Cindy.

Staff Writer

Munter Enterprises, based in Middle Grove, is a leading family-owned general contractor offering commercial, industrial, design-build, and project delivery services throughout the Capital Region.

Several large commercial and industrial projects are underway and progressing toward completion this year. One notable project is for Equal Vision Records, an independent record label based in Albany, New York, and MerchNow, their sister company, which produces wearables and promotional branded merchandise for bands and artists.

The recently purchased building is in Albany’s South End at 400 South Pearl St., where Munter Enterprises is implementing improvements to bring the building into code compliance for storage and racking requirements. The project includes interior modifications to the production and warehouse areas, as well as minor renovations of the office space. A unique aspect of the project is the addition of a 20×40 boiler room designed to house modern steam boilers essential for the production of vinyl records, which have seen a resurgence in popularity over the last decade.  

“I may be dating myself but I didn’t realize how the ‘record’ industry has rebounded and its actually very cool to understand what goes into to physically making a vinyl album,” said Michael Munter, vice president of Munter Enterprises.

“On a larger scale, we’re nearing the finish line on the Soleno project. They’ll be in full production by late August,” said Munter. 

by jill nagy

On a recent afternoon, Whitney Russell and his crew were rushing to get a roof on a new patio addition to the Sunnyside Par 3 golf course and restaurant in Queensbury, part of  a major upgrade to  the facility. 

When completed, the 16×66-foot patio, overlooking the golf course, will provide space for food, drinks, and occasional music.

A new post and beam building will also be added to the existing building. It will house five golf simulators and a new gift shop. Russell expects the simulators to encourage golfers to work on their game year-round. 

“Golf is a seasonal sport, that’s why they invented simulators,” he said. 

The plan is to have them up and running, in the new building, by Sept. 1. Russell purchased them from the Glens Falls office of About Golf, a national company. The manufacturers will also do the installation.

Russell and his son Garrett, who is the general manager, bought the business in 2019 and undertook major internal renovations before opening.  The Par 3 (nine holes) golf course has been in business since the 1940s, open mainly during the warm weather months. The Russells plan a year-round facility. 

They are also installing lights so that the course can be used from sun-up until 10:30 p.m.  Late players will still be able to get a drink on the new patio afterward but food service is scheduled to end at 8:30 p.m.

By Paul Post

A Key West luxury resort developer has found his own slice of paradise at a remote Adirondack lake beneath the shadow of Buck Mountain in West Fort Ann.

Pritam Singh recently purchased the 945-acre former Crossett Lake Scout Reservation from prominent Glens Falls businesswoman Elizabeth Miller for a reported $9.5 million cash.

“I’ve been looking for a lake like this for 30 to 40 years,” said Singh. “I was absolutely floored that it’s less than a two-hour drive from my house in South Woodstock (Vt.), and about three hours from New York and Boston. The clear, spring-fed lake has three islands, is 130 feet deep and its physical location and geography is quite unique because it’s so high up, a thousand feet above Lake George.” 

“And it’s surrounded by 13,000 acres of wild forest so it doesn’t have problems with salt and agricultural runoff or septic. It’s really like a hidden alpine valley,” he said. “Just amazing, idyllic. If a kid was going to draw a picture of paradise this is what he’d draw.”

The site, on the eastern edge of the Adirondack Park, will be strictly for family use as a seasonal getaway, Singh said.

 The sale, which closed on April 21, was brokered by Dan Davies of Queensbury-based Davies Davies & Associates.

“There was a lot of interest, but the biggest difference between Mr. Singh and other parties is that they wanted to do substantial development and he didn’t,” Davies said. “To run a project through the Adirondack Park Agency would be heavily scrutinized and take years. Mr. Singh is going to build houses for he and his kids and that’s basically it. I’ve sold in the Adirondacks for 35 years. This is literally a sanctuary from the world, but 15 minutes from the world (Glens Falls). That’s very, very rare.”

By Paul Post

 Gregg Singer and Larissa Ovitt have a vision for what some call the “street of dreams” in the city of Glens Falls.

South Street is called that because it’s a place where people with hope, hard work and some money could earn a slice of American pie.

 For many years, those aspirations gave way to a state of dismal decline evidenced by closed, boarded-up storefronts in several buildings. But now there are strong efforts to bring it back to life. Singer and Ovitt are contributing to the rebirth with an ambitious, multi-faceted business plan.

 In February, they purchased the building at 58-66 South St. for $325,000. A half-million dollars worth of upgrades later, three new first-floor enterprises are expected to open this summer, with four high-end apartments overhead for short-term rentals.

 “We’re sort of a South Street trailblazer by taking on this building and starting it up,” said Singer, a 56-year-old Brooklyn native. “What really attracted us was the upstairs. Glens Falls doesn’t have enough short-term accommodations for people and yet they’re trying to get people to come here. The city is excited that we’re bringing people into town where they’ll go to shops and restaurants, spend money here, maybe visit Lake George and Saratoga, but stay here and really enjoy the Glens Falls for what it is.”

By Jill nagy

RASP Inc., a company that designs and builds control panels, plans to add more warehouse and office space adjacent to its current buildings on a 30-acre campus in Moreau.

CEO Ron Richards said he sees the new construction as a plan for the future that will allow the company to hire additional people and seek more business.

 RASP currently has 34 employees, including engineers and panel builders. Most of them are panel builders, who are often hard to find. Richards said they prefer to hire people with some experience in electronics but, when necessary, they will train new people. Engineers, on the other hand, seem readily available.

“We have been hiring throughout this year,” Richards said, but they are running out of space to put the new employees.

The company builds control systems for other companies. Richards said the names of their customers are confidential, but include chemical companies, packaging companies, and a stone quarry.

By Paul Post

Munter Enterprises Inc. has not only survived, but thrives in the area’s highly competitive construction industry by paying close attention to detail and staying fully engaged with customers

“The personal touch, I think, is what really sets us apart,” said John Munter Jr., who co-owns the firm with his brother, Mike. “And we have very talented crews for all the different aspects of a project.”

The Middle Grove-based firm, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, was founded in 1972 by John Munter Sr. and his wife, Rosemary. Their sons incorporated the firm purchased it in 1998.

“Dad started with GE at their Malta rocket engine development and test site then moved to their ICBM facility in Burlington, Vt., and back to the nuclear sub and large generator facilities in Schenectady,” John Jr. said. “That’s about when he decided to go into the construction business for himself. Mom was the bookkeeper. They started out doing a lot of work for industry and some homebuilding, all over the region from Lake George to Saratoga County.”

by Andrea Palmer

Hunt Companies Inc. (HCI) is a general contractor in Argyle that recently underwent Phase 1 of succession planning, as Amie Gonzales was voted in as president at the annual shareholders meeting in January.

The company was started by Amie’s parents, Dennis and Cindy Hunt, over 30 years ago. Juan Gonzales is the chief financial officer, as well as Amie’s husband. When Gonzales began visiting then-girlfriend Amie many years ago, he saw first-hand the grit Denny and Cindy put into keeping the company running.

“Their vision was, as a general contractor, to take care of the team and take care of the employees through all the ups and downs,” said Gonzales. “They went through the full spectrum of what a lot of small businesses go through—paying payroll with credit cards, taking money from their personal savings to keep the company alive, Denny spending hours upon hours in the field during the day and then hours upon hours on the laptop at night. Keeping the company afloat.”

The Hunt Companies niche is the restaurant business, specifically fast food. They have done work for McDonald’s in Boston and the surrounding region. Hunt Companies has also done work with Popeye’s, Taco Bell and other restaurants.