Ballston Spa residents are pushing back on a proposed development despite repeated adjustments to the project. The project is stalling as Saratoga County continues to grow.
A 6.3-acre plot of land in the village of Ballston Spa used to house an expansive tannery built in the 1880s.
In 2025, Conifer Realty proposed a mixed-use complex that would feature both residential units and nearly 8,500 square feet of commercial space.
Since the initial proposal, Blue Ridge Cascade and the NRP Group have taken over the project — and scaled it back.
The originally proposed three five-story buildings have dropped down to three- and four-stories, and the proposed commercial space has gone by the wayside to provide for more residential space — the project will now feature 168 units of housing.
Blue Ridge Cascade CEO Chris Eisenzimmer said the project is perfect for a growing village like Ballston Spa.
"One of our big points is we provide very high-quality housing to those that need it most in the workforce," Eizenzimmer said. "We’ve just seen so many cases of folks in various jurisdictions, essential workers, restaurants workers, firefighters, the first-year accountant, etc. The empty-nesters who have had to move outside of the areas that they have lived in for a very long time because of that economic growth. Our goal is to come in and provide housing for those folks without sacrificing any of the levels of quality."
The debate over the project comes as Saratoga County continues to be one of the handful of growing regions in New York state.
Over the past 30 years, the populations of Malta and Halfmoon have each grown by 6,000 and 13,000, respectively.
While a large jump in population occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in the decade between 2015 and 2025, the county's population grew by 6.7%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
While fellow Saratoga County municipalities like the city of Saratoga Springs and the town of Clifton Park have embraced development, the village of Ballston Spa has balked.
The tannery project going 18 months without a shovel in the ground represents this caution. In order to place multi-family dwellings within the village’s central business district, the project’s backers will need a special-use permit granted through the Zoning Board of Appeals.
At a ZBA meeting this month, dozens of residents voiced their continued concerns over the project.
Ceil Wurster is a would-be neighbor of the project.
“They are way out of scale with the surrounding one- and two-story homes and apartments," Wurster said. "We believe this destroys the character of the neighborhood and makes the village less attractive. These buildings will also block the view to and from the Tedisco trail. These tall buildings will likely cause major loss of natural light that shines through the many windows in the living spaces of my home. They will overshadow the open spaces and gardens of not only my property but those of my neighbors on the east side of Bath Street."
ZBA member Kamran Parwana raised concerns over the project’s traffic study done on Dec. 3, 2024, emphasizing data collected then may not be representative of current, average conditions.
Eisenzimmer says his firm takes all of the concerns raised seriously.
“We will absolutely be re-consulting with our traffic engineer," Eisenzimmer said. "The last thing that we want to do is have the appearance of trying to pull the wool over folks’ eyes. We will have our traffic engineer at future public hearings. We’ll also be asking those same hard questions of our traffic engineer to try to shed some light on that."
Former Village Board Member Ben Baskin argued the project simply does not meet the criteria to be granted a special-use permit at this time.
“It will hinder the proper use and value of adjacent land and the great increase in traffic shall be hazardous and inconvenient to the neighborhood and conflict with the normal traffic of the neighborhood," Baskin said. "I’d like to see more affordable housing in the village, but it should be in harmony with the village’s current development and surrounding neighborhood and landscape."
