What’s going on with the Lillian’s lot?
Two years after the Saratoga Springs City Council agreed to sell the city-owned parking lot on Broadway to developer Sonny Bonacio, the deal still has not gone through.
And while it was initially thought that the $750,000 sale could help officials balance a projected $3 million gap in this year’s budget, Finance Commissioner Ken Ivins said today that the deal may not go through until next year.
“I was never counting that money in the budget,” he said, despite the fact that the sale is noted on the most recent budget spreadsheet posted on the city’s Web site.
Because the one-time funds remain forthcoming, Ivins said the budget will have to be balanced solely by tapping the city’s undedicated reserves, now at $3.3 million, and implementing mid-year cuts which are now projected to reach just over $1.3 million (officials are still looking for more, and expect to vote on the proposal July 7).
For his part, Bonacio said today he has not given much thought to the choice piece of real estate, and said he has no immediate plans to begin construction there.
When the sale was initially approved in June 2007, he was planning a four-story building that would have also included some underground parking. The development was seen as an important way of linking pedestrians on Broadway with Putnam Street, and it was thought that the alley — Gardiner Lane — could be developed in a more attractive way.
But it also stoked fears among merchants worried about the loss of some 40 parking spots in an already cluttered downtown. Seems now that you’ll still be able to park your Subaru there and grab a cup of UG’s house blend for at least a little while longer.
Update: There’s more on this story in today’s edition here.
– Drew Kerr
