SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- For more than a year, business leaders in Saratoga Springs were well aware executives at Ayco planned to bring all of their employees from their Albany, Latham and Saratoga locations under one roof.

"It’s a cost-effective way for them to move their business forward so it’s totally understandable," said Todd Shimkus, Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce president.

Shimkus remained hopeful the financial firm's new headquarters would be located in or just outside the Spa City, where Ayco already occupies a large office space on Broadway. Instead, the Goldman Sachs owned company announced Tuesday it plans to lease a proposed 150,000 square foot office building at the site of Colonie's former Starlite Theater.

"Unfortunately, they did look at places in Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County but they ultimately chose someplace outside of Saratoga,” Shimkus said.

It's unclear exactly how many employees work at the Saratoga Springs location. Tara Ryan, a company spokesperson, would only confirm a combined 870 people worked at their three Capital Region locations.

Following the departures of Palio and McMurry, Ayco is the third large employer to leave downtown Saratoga in recent years.

"Those are hundreds of jobs collectively, good paying right in downtown,” Shimkus said. “We are losing that, we are losing that economic impact."

While a press release states most AYCO employees will move into the new facility, Ryan would not shut the door on the possibility of a small few workers remaining behind in Saratoga Springs, adding “no final decisions have been made about which or how many employees are moving where."

"We would like to retain as many of them as we possibly could," said Shimkus, who’s also hopeful the company will continue to rely on the Spa City to host meetings and other events that bring in customers and business partners from outside the area.

Via text message, Mayor Joanne Yepsen called the decision a "loss for Saratoga Springs." She echoed the words of Shimkus, who says civic leaders must work hard to attract a new company to fill Ayco's space.

“I am confident we will partner with other great companies in the future,” Yepsen said.

"We need people to actually work downtown to sustain our healthy economy,” Shimkus said. “If we don’t have people working downtown and good paying jobs, we are losing a book of business that helps keep our independent businesses here."