New owners will cater to coffee lovers
BALLSTON SPA — The village’s first gourmet coffeehouse will open in a prime location on the corner of Malta and Milton avenues early next year.
Donna Morris Calvey of Malta and husband Doug Calvey, purchased the 1892 Lincoln building last March, and proceeded with a $100,000 restoration project. Improvements included upgrades on the facade and color scheme, brick washing, painting and filling cornices. Work was done by Old Saratoga Restoration of Saratoga Springs. The building has seven storefront units and 13 apartments. Businesses at the site include a hair salon, a consignment ship, a comic book/trading card store and BirthRight pregnancy counseling.
Calvey said Thursday the building’s prime spot, a storefront with wrap-around windows directly on the corner, will soon house an espresso/coffee bar. The site’s current tenant, the Schenectady-based Daily Gazette, has been located there since the 1960s. Calvey said the news bureau office has been offered other space in the building.
Nancy and Grae Joor of Saratoga Springs will run the coffeehouse. Calvey said the couple will offer international coffees and fresh baked goods including bagels from Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga Springs. Several months ago, Calvey began a petition of names of people interested in attracting a coffee bar to the village. Calvey had contacted Uncommon Grounds at that time, and owner Dan Murphy responded with interest in the project.
View of 1892 Lincoln building in Ballston Spa prior to renovations by Old Saratoga Restorations.
“It came to me one day that there was no coffee shop here, so where do you have a meeting?” Calvey said. “It’s a place that would quickly attract people, people who work here or those driving by.”
The new business is expected to open in February. It is located directly across the street from the village’s newest liquor store, Midtown Wines and Liquors, in a corner front property that was once another newspaper bureau location. Calvey said she has been watching the growth in Ballston Spa with interest over the past few years.
“We believe in Ballston Spa,” Calvey said. “We’ve witnessed the revitalization, and we’re jumping on that bandwagon. It’s only up from here.
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