The campus sits on an extensive sand plain, the delta of the prehistoric "Iromohawk" river as it entered Lake Albany at the end of the last ice age. When the early settlers cleared the forests and ploughed the soil they quickly discovered that the thin layer of topsoil blew away and the underlying sand piled up in large drifts.

In 1898 Thomas C. Luther began to purchase the otherwise useless land and undertook a pioneering effort of reforestation, planting thousands of white pine trees. The reforested area eventually grew to over 7,000 acres (2,800 ha), and became known as "Luther Forest".

In 1947 the then largely uninhabited area was home to a Hermes Rocket test site, known as the Malta Test Station, an approximately 300 acres (120 ha) site where rocket engines underwent stationary testing under the supervision of the General Electric Company. "The original facility included underground and above-ground bunkers, two gantries and a number of lab buildings. There were checkpoints with armed guards and clearance was required to gain entrance." Rocket scientists such as Werner von Braun visited the site and often stayed for several weeks.[6] General Electric later sold its rocket business to Wright Malta Corporation, formed by former GE employees at the site headed by Eugene Wright. Wright Malta still maintains a facility, currently producing a variety of industrial products. "Project Hermes" is commemorated by Hermes Road, one of the main access roads to the tech park. Another legacy of the project was soil contamination from rocket fuel that caused the facility to be listed as a Superfund site in 1987. In 1999 cleanup was completed and the site was removed from the list.

The Malta Test Station was purchased in 1964 by the New York State Atomic and Space Development Authority. Later another 280 acres (110 ha) was acquired by eminent domain. The Atomic and Space Development Authority later became the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) which now operates the former Test Station site as the Saratoga Technology Energy Park (STEP).

In 1998 New York began an initiative to pre-permit chip manufacturing plants, known as Chip Fab ’98. In 2000 the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) chose the current site, began the process of obtaining zoning approval, and began preliminary work.