What will be standing at the foot of Mohawk Avenue, next to the Western Gateway Bridge, a year from now? Through most of 2025 it looked like the village boards would decide. Those votes are done. As October ends, the answer depends on whether anyone buys the property in the next ten weeks.
Owner Angelo Mazzone Sr. listed Glen Sanders Mansion for $8 million in August. He also told the Times Union that if no buyer comes forward by Jan. 1, he will build the apartments he has already planned. Here is what that deadline covers, and how the place got here.
The lease ended before the building did
Mazzone bought 1 Glen Ave. in 1988 and turned it into an event venue with a restaurant, two ballrooms and an inn. In a July Times Union column by Steve Barnes, former staff recalled hundreds of events a year at the mansion, from Little League dinners to weekends with eight weddings. Until Mazzone Hospitality opened its Clifton Park headquarters in 2014, the mansion's kitchens also ran the company's off-site catering.
The arrangement changed in 2017. Mazzone sold his catering and business-dining operations to Restaurant Associates, which kept the Mazzone Hospitality name and leased the mansion from him as an event venue. Mazzone still owned the building. A couple of years ago, Restaurant Associates told him it would not renew the lease after 2026. Tim Vennard, vice president of Mazzone Hospitality, said in a statement that "the hospitality landscape has changed significantly over the years, and the timing made sense for both parties."
Mazzone told the Times Union he first tried to sell the property as a catering venue and small hotel and couldn't find a buyer. His explanation in that same column:
"Do I feel bad about it? Yes, absolutely. It was my baby. I wish we had something else we could do with it. But the business changed. This was my best option."
That history matters for the Jan. 1 deadline. One search for a buyer who would keep the place as an event venue has already come up empty. The new listing is the second try.
What the approved plan keeps, and what it removes
Most people picture the old stone house when they think of "the mansion." The redevelopment plan leaves that part in place.
According to the history archive of the Schenectady County Public Library, Capt. Johannes Glen built the stone house in 1713. He built it largely from the materials of an earlier house that Alexander Glen put up near the river in 1658. So the 1658 date often attached to the mansion belongs to that first house and the Glen farm. The building on Glen Avenue dates to 1713. The same 1925 account says the Glen-Sanders family had held the homestead for 266 years by 1924.
The village record splits the property into three parts:
| Part of the property | Under the approved plan |
|---|---|
| Original stone house | Remains a restaurant. The Planning Board's April 7, 2025 minutes describe "no changes to the original 1700s portion" |
| 1988 wing and the inn | Becomes the site of the apartment addition |
| Ballroom built in the early 1990s | Demolished |
WRGB reported in July 2025 that Mayor David Bucciferro said the original façade would stay. In the same report, Mazzone said the original structure and the riverfront would stay. WRGB also reported that the property has no official state or national historic designation. At the June 30, 2025 Planning Board meeting, Village Historian Beverly Clark asked for more communication about Glen Sanders and other projects so she could answer residents' questions.
The village votes are done
The approvals came through in 2025:
- April 7, 2025. The Planning Board reviewed a six-story, 75-foot apartment project in the 1988 wing and recommended variances for micro-apartments and setbacks.
- May 27, 2025. The Zoning Board of Appeals approved an area variance letting some units fall below the village's 660-square-foot minimum.
- June 30, 2025. The Planning Board accepted the site plan and adopted a SEQRA negative declaration.
The Daily Gazette reported a 3-0 Planning Board vote for a ground-floor restaurant plus 95 apartments. The development team included Burns Management, Cotler Architecture, and M.J. Engineering and Land Surveying. The plan has changed since then:
| Version approved in 2025 | Version Mazzone described in July 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Units | 95 | 101 |
| Mix | 17 micro units of 375 sq. ft., 15 studios, 55 one-bedrooms, 8 two-bedrooms | All studios or micro suites, except two one-bedrooms |
| Building | Six-story addition after the ballroom comes down | Four stories added above the existing two-floor, 22-room hotel |
| Size | Not stated | Grows from 52,000 to 91,000 sq. ft. |
| Cost | Not stated | $26.5 million |
The village approvals on record cover the 95-unit version. In July, Mazzone told the Times Union he had all the drawings, planning and paperwork except a building permit. He expected to apply for the permit in September, start demolition in January, and welcome the first tenants about 18 months after that. He gave his reason for choosing apartments: "Good housing is lacking, in Schenectady and especially in Scotia."
Why the property went up for sale anyway
Two and a half weeks after that column ran, the mansion was listed for sale. According to the Times Union's August 15 report, Mazzone said rising construction costs from tariffs and other economic factors led to the decision. He also left the door open for a buyer with a different plan. His son, Angelo Mazzone Jr., told the paper: "It's all shovel-ready to go or you can just keep it as it is."
A buyer could take the approved apartment plan, or keep the mansion as an event venue and inn. In July, Mazzone put it plainly in the Times Union: "If someone out there wants a banquet hall, I'm more than willing to sell it." If neither happens by Jan. 1, he has said he will build.
According to Mazzone Jr., interest in the property picked up after the July column ran. As of late October, no buyer has been publicly announced.
What the public can still do there this year
The public chances to eat at the mansion are over. OpenTable lists Angelo's Tavolo at Glen Sanders Mansion, the restaurant in the original house, as permanently closed. The public send-off was "One Last Patio Party" on Aug. 20, with eight legacy chefs including Danny Petrosino and Frank Tardio, and part of the proceeds went to Men Wear Pink. WNYT reported that the property is staying open through the end of 2026 to honor weddings and private events that were already booked.
Until the end of the year, the lights and the parked cars on Glen Avenue belong to the last booked weddings and parties. Glen Avenue does have one public stop this week. The Scotia Fire Department's free Halloween cider-and-donut route stops at Glen Ave. and Pleasantview Ave. at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. The route starts at 4:30 p.m. at Catherine Street and North Ten Broeck Street and ends at 7:55 p.m. on Weathercrest Drive, according to the Village of Scotia.
If you live near Glen Avenue or along Mohawk Avenue and want to know how a project at the village's bridge entrance could affect your own home's value, Dufek Real Estate Group can walk you through what we're seeing in Scotia, block by block. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll keep you posted on what happens at the mansion after Jan. 1.
