The Real Faces of Real Estate

by Jane Caron, Contributing Writer

John Seiden of J.S. Seiden Real Estate & Commercial Development considers himself ‘bullish on Plattsburgh’. A visionary and catalyst for the Plattsburgh downtown revitalization which begun in 1987, John suggests that he is an ambassador for the city. Formerly a co-owner of Today’s Lifestyles Inc. John, along with partners, was responsible for the purchase, rehabilitation and development of 15 buildings with 60 apartments, nine commercial storefronts and a 15,000 sq. ft. office complex in the downtown district.

As the organizing force behind the City Hall Place project of the early ’90s, John demonstrated his commitment to the revitalization of the downtown core, along with his contemporary design sense and ability to work with city government, community development offices, architects, engineers, contractors, and lending institutions to manage a complex project. His most recent project, the Maison Heritage Business Station — previously Merkel’s department store — has met with critical acclaim.

The future for John’s new agency will be a full service broker specializing in commercial development. “My agency will be a way for limited partnerships to find buildings, acquire financing, market, and contract excess space,” he says.

Using a rough industrial park model, John explains his theory of ‘like-kind’ multi connected tenant mixes. He suggests that an upcoming project under discussion would use this model in a medical/health cluster of doctors, dentists and therapist offices as well as health shops with his agency acting as the developer and property manager.