Officials hope building will be sold at auction
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. >> The 6.3-acre parcel of land and 80,000 square foot building located on Bath Street in Ballston Spa is part of a large group of properties that have been purchased by an affiliate of KKR, a large private equity firm in New York City and Angelica’s largest investor. The property is part of an asset purchase agreement (APA) between the KKR affiliate and Angelica Corporation, which currently owns the Bath Street property.
The company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a reorganization effort.
The Bath Street property has stood idle since 2010 and was condemned by the village in 2015. It is also the site of ongoing and extensive cleanup under the Brownfield Cleanup Program. The buildings and property originally operated as a tannery in the late 1800’s and the land has been contaminated with several chemicals that are human carcinogens. In addition to the clean-up, the half dozen ancillary buildings also located on the property will be demolished.
While there is a possibility that the Bath Street property may not be included in the auction, the APA will allow money to continue to flow through the company, allowing Angelica Corporation to complete the remediation and cleanup at the Ballston Spa location and make it more attractive to prospective developers.
According to a spokesperson for Angelica, bidders must submit to the court to be qualified to bid in the auction of the Angelica assets, including the Ballston Spa
property, by May 29, the auction of Angelica assets will take place on June 5, and a court hearing to approve the sale or sales of the assets will follow on June 14.
When reached for comment, recently elected Village Councilman Noah Shaw called the Angelica site “extraordinarily important for the future of Ballston Spa.”
“As it is cleaned up and likely transitions ownership, we should be doing everything we can to make sure it’s high potential is maximized for the benefit of all village residents,” added Shaw.
Village Mayor John Romano, who received notice of Angelica’s Chapter 11 filing about a week ago, said that he expects the cleanup and remediation process at the site to be completed by this summer and he believes that the KKR affiliate will likely include the property as part of the auction package.
“Once this is all settled, I will reach out to the new owners to discuss the future of the property,” said Mayor Romano, adding that he wants to see the property developed into something that will be in the best interests of the entire village.
Currently, the area is zoned R-1. The Mayor said the village would be open to making zoning changes that would allow diverse types of development. Whether it eventually becomes a mixeduse location or is used as least partially to alleviate the village’s increasing parking problem remains to be seen. Shaw said he would love developers to “think imaginatively.”