Mill Hollow markets condos at $279K and up

The Enterprise — Michael Koff

Floor plan: The upper level of the community center in the Mill Hollow senior-housing complex features a great room with a fireplace, a theater room, a fitness room, and, just outside, a large deck and pool. The lower level of the center provides a space for the town’s senior-services program.
 

The Enterprise — Michael Koff

Site plan: The Mill Hollow housing complex, when completed in three years, will consist of 84 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units, each with a one-car garage, and a community center. The base price for units is $279,000. Residents of the complex must be 55 years or older.

GUILDERLAND — It will be another three years before the Mill Hollow senior housing complex on Route 20, at the site of the former Bavarian Chalet, will be finished.

Owners James Verseput and David Osher, who bought the project from Jeff Thomas in January 2013, hope to have 84 units built by 2018.

“We found the site to be gorgeous, with the Helderbergs and the water view,” said Verseput, of the decision to buy out Thomas.

“It’s really uniquely beautiful, and it fit a niche we were comfortable with,” he said.

The complex, being built by Buck Construction, will feature two-bedroom condominiums for residents ages 55 and up.

It will also offer a large community center, including a 5,000-square-foot space for the town of Guilderland’s senior program; the space was dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.

In addition to the space for the town, the center will include a theater room, a game room, a two-story great room with a fireplace, a glassed-in sunroom, a deck, and a pool outside.

Verseput said he did not see a conflict of interest with having the town’s senior program located at a privately-owned senior-housing complex.

“I don’t see it as a conflict in any way, shape, or form; I see it as synergy,” he said. “It’ll be a huge benefit to our residents, to have a constant schedule of events happening on the lower level, and then to have free range on the upper level.”

He also said there were some sacrifices made to accommodate the senior-services program, including a reduction in the number of condominiums on the site.

It won’t be just the community center that’s luxurious, said Verseput.

“We really wanted to create an even more stepped-up type of community” than what is currently offered in similar developments, he said.

All units will have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a one-car garage, and the base models will feature granite countertops, hardwood cabinets and floors, and ceramic tile. Units range from 1,242 square feet to 1,531 square feet.

Base-model units start at $299,000, but there is currently an incentive deal, priced at $279,000, in order to fill the units more quickly, said Verseput.

Buyers must be lined up for at least 13 units in order to close the sales, he said. 

The most expensive units are priced at $359,000.

The builders also have a deal in which future buyers can rent current base models as they wait for their upgraded units to be built.

“We’re at a very critical point in the project,” said Verseput, adding that there will be events held at the complex in the coming months to help drive traffic to the site.

More Guilderland News

  • The district has spent $5.7 million to pay tax refunds after court challenges, and drained its reserve for tax certiorari cases. So it made a strategic decision to pay Crossgates Mall, once the most recent tax challenges are decided, not entirely out of the operating budget but rather by borrowing the money and paying off the bond over a decade.

  • While it was the town of Guilderland that was sued by Crossgates, it will be Guilderland schools that bear the brunt of the refund burden. 

  • “If the net cost is zero, why wouldn’t we purchase more?” asked school board member Rebecca Butterfield. “It comes down to being able to store them, charge them, and run them …,” responded Andrew Van Alstyne. “While free buses would be good … districts have seen them break down.” He said he hoped the technology will be more advanced before Guilderland turns over its fleet to electric.

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