Property Owner: Lagging Economy Preventing Construction
550 Stewart Avenue, LLC, owners of the property north and south of Stewart Avenue near the Roosevelt Field Mall’s entrance, have entered into a month-to-month lease agreement with a Hempstead Nissan dealership to temporarily store cars on their south side property.
Grading of the property is expected shortly. The lease will help offset the hefty monies being paid out on the vacant land. According to attorney Kevin Walsh, his client’s carrying charges for the property are “well in excess” of the rent he is collecting to store the dealership’s overflow of vehicles.
Garden City Building Superintendent Mike Filippon said the property owners at first requested permission to park the cars on the north side of Stewart Avenue, adjacent to Raymond Court, but the Board of Zoning Appeals denied their request in a residential zone.
The owners then requested permission to store the vehicles on the south side of Stewart Avenue, a commercial district. The BZA granted them a special use permit for a period of one year to park the cars, which Filippon said would rarely leave the property.
The property’s ingress and egress would remain the same as well as the tall hedges and shrubs.
“The owner of the property explained he was making this request because in view of the current market conditions, he’s really been unable to begin construction on that office building and that he’s been carrying the property at a significant expense,” Filippon said. “This will help alleviate that expense.”
The plans for both pieces of property are still on the table, according to Walsh. But a lagging economy has made it difficult for his client to begin construction. The southern site has approval for a 93,000 square foot office building. 550 Stewart Avenue, LLC is currently looking for a prime tenant. “The lease is month to month so he can move ahead quickly when he is ready,” Walsh said.
As for the north side of Stewart Avenue, the property adjacent to Raymond Court, the site has been approved for the construction of 25 townhouses. Walsh said his client is working on the map filing and project financing. “He plans on building both north and south,” Walsh said, although he did not specify when in fact construction of either side would begin.
