UP AND RUNNING
More than 3 years after fire, properties at 24 Caroline St., 68 Putnam St. back in action
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » When a fire ripped through downtown Saratoga Springs on Thanksgiving Day 2016, the owners of 24 Caroline St. were devastated at the damage to their building.
Five upper-level apartments were destroyed and first-floor restaurant Hamlet & Ghost was forced to temporarily close.
However, the prominent corner property was in better shape than its neighbors on each side. Buildings at 30 Caroline St. and 68 Putnam St., where the fire started, both had to be demolished.
“We were unlucky, but was also lucked out,” said David Kubikian of Caroline Street Owners LLC. Kubikian’s partners in this company are his wife Isabel Kubikian, Josh and Chelsea Silver and Charlene Wood, who all bought the late 1800s building at 24 Caroline St. together in 2013 as their first joint in
vestment property.
As they were recovering from the fire and renovating 24 Caroline St., the partners of Caroline Street Owners LLC found an opportunity to grow their business. They decided to purchase the adjacent 68 Putnam St. property, the former site of restaurant Mio Posto, with an eye toward expansion.
Before the fire, the partners were actively looking for a new investment property, and even this incident didn’t scare them away from future growth.
As for why they decided to buy the adjacent property, it just made sense.
“We had to move the entrance, so once that happened, we were stuck with having less apartments for the square footage, and the Mio Posto lot became available, so we decided if we were going to have a doorway there, and a stairwell, we could have apartments on both sides,” David explained.
Though it took more than three years since the fire, the entire 24 Caroline St. and 68 Putnam St. properties are back in action, and connected as one big building.
Following Hamlet & Ghost’s reopening in January of 2017, the building’s reconfiguration allowed the business to utilize more space for an additional dining area and chef’s counter with an open kitchen. This restaurant expansion opened in the fall of 2017.
Over the next few years, the residential upper floors of 24 Caroline St. were completely gutted and reconstructed, and a new adjoining building was erected at 68 Putnam St., where Taquero opened in December of 2019.
Around this same time, a total of seven luxury onebedroom and two-bedroom apartments began welcoming new tenants. These rentals, some of which are currently available, start at $1,500 per month.
“Everyone knows this corner, everyone knows this building, so it’s really cool to give people a more luxurious way to live here,” David said.
As one of the building’s amenities, tenants have access to a rooftop patio with views of downtown Saratoga Springs.
The Thanksgiving Day fire certainly seemed like a tragedy at the time, but the folks at Caroline Street Owners LLC believe it may have been a blessing in disguise. “We kind of waffle back and forth whether the fire was a good thing or bad thing, but when we give a tour and we see the finished product, it seems like it was all worth it,” David said while standing on the rooftop just before sunset.
More information about these apartments can be found online at www.liveoncaroline.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — When a fire ripped through downtown Saratoga Springs on Thanksgiving Day 2016, the owners of 24 Caroline St. were devastated at the damage to their building.
Five upper-level apartments were destroyed and first floor restaurant Hamlet & Ghost was forced to temporarily close.
However, the prominent corner property was in better shape than its neighbors on each side. Buildings at 30 Caroline St. and 68 Putnam St., where the fire started, both had to be demolished.
“We were unlucky, but was also lucked out,” said David Kubikian of Caroline Street Owners LLC. Kubikian’s partners in this company are his wife Isabel Kubikian, Josh and Chelsea Silver and Charlene Wood, who all bought the late 1800s building at 24 Caroline St. together in 2013 as their first joint investment property.
As they were recovering from the fire and renovating 24 Caroline St., the partners of Caroline Street Owners LLC found an opportunity to grow their business. They decided to purchase the adjacent 68 Putnam St. property, the former site of restaurant Mio Posto, with an eye toward expansion.
Before the fire, the partners were actively looking for a new investment property, and even this incident didn’t scare them away from future growth.
As for why they decided to buy the adjacent property, it just made sense. “We had to move the entrance, so once that happened, we were stuck with having less apartments for the square footage, and the Mio Posto lot became available, so we decided if we were going to have a doorway there, and a stairwell, we could have apartments on both sides,” David explained.
Though it took more than three years since the fire, the entire 24 Caroline St. and 68 Putnam St. properties are back in action, and connected as one big building.
Following Hamlet & Ghost’s reopening in January of 2017, the building’s reconfiguration allowed the business to utilize more space for an additional dining area and chef’s counter with an open kitchen. This restaurant expansion opened in the fall of 2017.
Over the next few years, the residential upper floors of 24 Caroline St. were completely gutted and reconstructed, and a new adjoining building was erected at 68 Putnam St., where Taquero opened in December of 2019.
Around this same time, a total of seven luxury onebedroom and two-bedroom apartments began welcoming new tenants. These rentals, some of which are currently available, start at $1,500 per month.
“Everyone knows this corner, everyone knows this building, so it’s really cool to give people a more luxurious way to live here,” David said.
As one of the building’s amenities, tenants have access to a rooftop patio with views of downtown Saratoga Springs.
The Thanksgiving Day fire certainly seemed like a tragedy at the time, but the folks at Caroline Street Owners LLC believe it may have been a blessing in disguise. “We kind of waffle back and forth whether the fire was a good thing or bad thing, but when we give a tour and we see the finished product, it seems like it was all worth it,” David said while standing on the rooftop just before sunset.
More information about these apartments can be found online at www. liveoncaroline.com.