Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
In September Queensbury couple Ryan and Erin Connor’s EBRM Properties LLC bought the four-story 48,000 square foot Union Square building from long-time owner Tom O’Neill for $1,665,000.
The former shirt factory at 2-15 Broad Street faces Broad, South and Pine Streets. Mr. O’Neill put it on the market last spring for $2.35 million.
They have been renovating buildings since 2008. “We’ve kind of gotten to the point where it’s just part of what we do,” Mr. Connor said. “We’re just always doing something.”
The Connors own three properties, at 434, 440 and 444 Glen Street, former large homes that they’ve renovated over the years into 30 apartment units.
“We’re kind of at the point now where those are largely redone, which is why we were looking for our next project,” Mr. Connor said.
At Union Square, they plan to turn large sections of vacant space on the top two floors into 18 apartments, mostly one-bedroom and some two-bedroom.
They want to develop some usable commercial spaces to add a few more commercial tenants to the current dozen.
Mr. Connor said he “wants to find a use for everything” in the building. “There’s space that right now really has no use.”
He said his overall vision is to develop “mixed-use space that meets the needs of the community…There’s a lot going on on the road, so I think we’ve got to kind of see what the need is, but probably most of the current open space is more suited for residential in the back.”
He said the timetable for completing the apartments depends on “how we line up funding and our efforts and resources,” and could take anywhere from 18 months to many years.
“Obviously we’d love to do it ASAP, but at the same time, we’ve got to have those things line up,” Mr. Connor said.
In the meantime, he says, “There’s plenty to do with making sure the building is in good repair, ensuring the roof’s good, working on the basement space.”
He said the building’s condition is “remarkably good considering its age,” which he believes to be 120 years.
“The brick walls are in great condition,. The roof needs some work, we’re working on that. But in general it’s got solid bones for sure. The structure is quite good, so we’re more interested in making sure the envelope of the building is going to protect that.”
He said window upgrades are needed for the future apartments, but “we would reuse the floors as much as we can. They’ll be gorgeous when they’re refinished. That’s one of the reasons we like the building, because it’s got a lot of materials that we can reuse or leverage in our design as we finish off spaces.”
He said he and his wife plan to perpetually invest in continuous improvement to the property. He said they’ve done a lot of work already to clean up the grounds, including some landscaping.
“We will just over time chip away,” he said. “This is what me and my wife do. We like to see what we can do to places.”
He’s not sure how much money his LLC will put into renovation. “Hard to say,” he said. “It depends what we find.”
He said recent and upcoming development in the South/Broad Street corridor is “all for the positive. I think this is an area that has needed it for years. And hopefully we can make this work with that.”
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