Mike Dubb and his Beechwood Organization spent 35 years building 7,500 downstate homes.

For the first time in his career, Dubb is starting to build homes in Saratoga Springs, less than three miles from Saratoga Race Course, the thoroughbred race track he has been visiting since he was 17 years old.

Dubb and Beechwood last week outlined details of the 53 homes they are building at the Oak Ridge development between the track and Saratoga Lake. Homes will range in size between 2,200 square feet and more than 6,000 square feet. They will be priced in the $850,000 to $2 million-plus range.

Now, Dubb is looking at other properties around the city for future projects.

He is convinced the Covid-19 pandemic will only increase the number of downstate New York and New Jersey residents who are interested in moving to or building a second home in Saratoga.

"I know people prior to Covid who were saying, 'I want a better life or I want a town and something not so dense as New York City and the surrounding suburbs,'" Dubb said. "Home has taken on a new importance with people because of Covid."

The founder of Beechwood Organization secured the remaining 53 lots at Oak Ridge from Jeffrey Snyder and Oak Ridge Development in April after looking at the 135-plus acre site on a whim in October.

"I really wasn't looking to develop in Saratoga," Dubb said.

The pastoral setting off Meadowbrook and Dyer Switch roads and the ability to construct four-, five- and six-bedroom homes with large porches, high-end finishes and garages tucked behind the houses caught his attention. Dubb sees the Oak Ridge by Beechwood project as a way to recreate what he describes as the "old Saratoga" architecture that exists along North Broadway and Union Avenue.

He expects the 53 homes will sell over the next three to four years, and he is not worried that the coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown will jeopardize the project.

"Covid and the economic effects cannot take away the beauty and desirability of Saratoga," Dubb said. "We may lose some restaurants and hotels. A few individuals may struggle. Long term, Saratoga is too strong ... One or two economic rough years does not a town make."

Dubb, 64, started visiting Saratoga Springs as a teenager and became heavily involved in thoroughbred racing over the years. He is a seven-time leading owner at Saratoga Race Course and serves on the board of the New York Racing Association, the nonprofit that manages the track.

Dubb and Beechwood also are currently building a daycare center in Saratoga Springs that will be donated for use by children of the backstretch workers at Saratoga Race Course. They constructed and donated a similar facility at the Belmont Park thoroughbred track nearly 20 years ago.

Dubb, who has owned a home in Saratoga Springs for 10 years, remains bullish in the track and Saratoga Springs despite the fact that the pandemic is preventing Saratoga Race Course to operate without fans for the first time this year.

Last week marked the first opening day in 30 years that Dubb has not attended the races.

"The main thing is that the show must go on," he said. "We need the economy to keep going and we need to keep all of the people working."

Seven-time Saratoga leading owner Michael Dubb is the founder of The Beechwood Organization, Long Island's largest homebuilder which he operates with his son Steven. Dubb prides himself on attention to detail and building houses that feel like homes. Dubb, much like how he manages his highly successful racing stable, is on-site and hands-on in his design-build business.

These days you will find Dubb on the job in Saratoga Springs, a city for which he has had a growing affection. Dubb first visited Saratoga as racing fan. His passion for Thoroughbred racing began at Belmont Park when his was a teenager. As a young adult, he made his first drive to Saratoga Springs and he knew right away that this city would have a special place in his life.

"I had been a fan of horse racing starting with the races at Belmont Park from about the time I was 15 or 16 years old," said Dubb. "I had never heard of Saratoga. A friend said "Come up", so I went up in my van and I had never seen anything like it, and the feeling I got from Saratoga decades ago has never left me."

Recently, Dubb was approached to look at a unique and partially incomplete development called Oak Ridge. The development comprises over 150 acres, but as part of the master plan, the homes are to be clustered overall to only about 50 acres. The remaining one hundred acres of natural land has been preserved as open space, including trails that connect to walking trails throughout Saratoga. Dubb purchased the property and has now set upon finishing the project.

Long Island home builder and leading thoroughbred racehorse owner Michael Dubb plans to construct 53 upscale homes near Saratoga Race Course.

Dubb and Beechwood Organization of Jericho on Tuesday released details of a plan to build $850,000 to $2 million-plus homes in the Oak Ridge Development off Meadowbrook and Dyer Switch roads, 2.6 miles east of the Saratoga Springs thoroughbred track.

Beechwood purchased five lots for $600,000 from builder Jeffrey Snyder and Oak Ridge Development and secured an option on 48 others this spring.

Dubb, whose company has built more than 7,500 homes in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Long Island since 1985, runs Beechwood with his son, Steven. Now, they are planning a second phase of the Oak Ridge community where Snyder and his brother built and sold more than 50 homes.

Beechwood plans to construct three styles of homes including four- and five-bedroom carriage homes on one-third acre lots that would range in size from 2,200 square feet to 3,200 square feet.

Two larger styles would be built on lots up to one acre with high ceilings, up to six bedrooms and between 3,000 and 6,000-plus square feet of space. The project, known as Oak Ridge by Beechwood, will have model homes open by spring of 2021.

The Saratoga Springs project marks a transition of sorts for Dubb who has kept his business focused primarily downstate while spending part of his summers upstate due to his interest in racing.

Dubb, 64, began visiting Saratoga Springs when he was 17. Over the years, he became heavily involved with horse racing. He is a seven time leading thoroughbred owner at Saratoga Race Course, winning his most recent title in 2018. Dubb also serves on the board of the New York Racing Association, the nonprofit that manages the track.

Dubb was not immediately available Tuesday to discuss why he is interested in building homes in the Saratoga area. He is among a growing number of downstate business executives and developers who see opportunity in investing around Albany, Saratoga and Lake George.