Project planned at Villa Valenti site
NORTH GREENBUSH >> Three townhouses are being constructed by an East Greenbush-based firm on the site of the former, well- known Villa Valenti Restaurant which burned down in January 2014.
The four-bedroom, two bathroom townhouses are expected to be finished in November and they already have renters planning to move in, said developer Pat Marotta with Uriah Corporation.
Each townhouse will also have a separate garage building, said Marotta who runs the East Greenbush firm with his brother, Frank.
The Marottas plan to give a tip of the hat to the restaurant which had roots that went back to a 1908 eatery in Troy since the townhouses will likely be called The Villas of North Greenbush.
The Valenti family, which had run the restaurant on West Sand Lake Road for three gen- erations, had expressed an interest in re- opening the establishment soon after the blaze. The family changed their mind and put the ¾- acre property on the market about a year later.
Ralph Valenti, a former owner of the restaurant, became less involved with the family business after his son died in 2012.
“Just so many great memories there. Still after Jarid passed in 2012 I was not involved much. Restaurant was my mom’s. I do miss it. Many do,” he said of the sale.
The property sale went through this spring, said an official with Realty USA.
Soon after the fire, it was found that foreclosure proceedings had started on the property. On Dec. 4, 2013, Pennsylvaniabased APEX Mortgage Corp. started the foreclosure process for 369 W. Sand Lake Road, where the family- owned Italian restaurant was located. This followed delinquencies from 2008 in which more than $16,000 in back payments, late fees and interest were owed for the property, according to documents filed with the Rensselaer County Clerk. In Jan. 2014, Valenti said this was because he was playing “hard ball” in an attempt to lower the mortgage rates.
More than a year and a half later, the Villa Valenti three alarm fire incident is still under investigation, said North Greenbush Police Chief Bob Durivage.
“It is still an open investigation and we’re still working on the investigation,” he said, noting that he could not share anything else.