Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
Developer Tom Elliott is completing renovations of Dr. Vincent Koh’s former oncology office at 428 Glen Street, just north of downtown and across from the District 425 apartments in the long ago Glens Falls Junior High School.
Now divided into apartments, Mr. Elliott intends the four one-bedroom units to be short term rentals.
“Glens Falls has no shortage of rundown long-term rentals,” Mr. Elliott says.
“Short term rentals give us the opportunity to showcase our wonderful little city, and are definitely good for the local merchants.”
He said he invested “north of $800,000,” in the project, including about $225,000 to purchase the building in 2022.
“I’m not a developer,” Mr. Elliott says. “I’m a remodeler. I love to see the beauty in something, to take it back in time and make it amazing. That’s completely different than making something from nothing.”
Mr. Elliott lives full-time in Sarasota, Florida, where he has a regional chain of sports bars. He and his ex-wife had a place in Bolton Landing, which he says, roundabout, is “how I fell in love with Glens Falls.”
“This is kind of a hobby job for me, you know,” Mr. Elliott says. “I just love fixing up old buildings. This is the passion project — taking something like this and turning it into something really cool.”
His Blue Bear Luxury Properties umbrella includes short term rental locations in downtown Glens Falls (the Rude Betty store at 170 Glen Street and the former JMZ offices above Black Anvil tattoo shop at 12 Warren Street); a large meeting-venue property in Argyle with a rustic cabin, accommodations in rehabbed Airstream RVs, and a planned treehouse; as well as a property in Bolton Landing.
He also has a conventional rental property on Sagamore Street in Glens Falls.
Dr. Koh’s former office is a two-and-a-half-story, gable roofed brick Italianate-style residence that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It was once known as the A.S. Rugge House, says an online history.
Mr. Elliott refinished the porches and signature entryway, and painted the red brick exterior white.
He says his goal is to retain and upgrade original elements, such as the sliding wooden double archway doors into the first floor bedroom, once a chemo treatment room, and the curving wood stairway to the second floor.
The downstairs doctor’s office was divided into small rooms where chemotherapy was administered.
“We thought they could not be rehabbed, but they did it,” he said, of his subcontractors.
His architect is Ethan Hall. Contractor is Brodie Farr. Property manager is Jacob Laing of Travel ADK. The wood floors were refinished by Todd Corcoran of Mr. Sandless, T&C Refinishing in Gansevoort.
Mr. Elliott said the upstairs apartments “were not in great shape.” Tenants were no longer in residence.
Amenities he added included vertical skylights in the upstairs apartments that expose top floor windows and high-end kitchen appliances. He adds, “All the units have massage chairs, which short- and long-term renters, they seem to really like.”
He says of renters, “I’ve been doing more with people in business, whether it’s traveling nurses, or I’ve had a tenant from Europe that’s been in our one bedroom (above Rude Betty) for three months.
“That’s my preference, to have short-term long-term, if you will, people looking for furnished space, washers, dryers.”
Mr. Elliott lamented not being in town for a Building and Codes meeting regarding short term rentals that was scheduled yesterday, Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Copyright © 2024 Lone Oak Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved
