UPDATE: Sept. 17 at 9:22 p.m.
Luxury apartment developer Mill Creek Residential Trust will next month propose a plan to build a 197-unit apartment complex on the north and south side of Searing Avenue in Mineola, the site of vacant property owned by Corpus Christi Parish. The hearing is set for Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Village Hall.
“We’re going over the plans,” Mayor Scott Strauss said after a Mineola Village Board meeting on Wednesday. The Village of Mineola’s building department received the application on Sept. 1.
Previous reports, including a study commissioned by Mineola from New Jersey-based Phillips Preiss Grygiel LLC, commissioned by the village, named the church property as a spot for development, but cited a 140-unit building as a possible complex. The Grygiel report also said 1,460 apartments could hit Mineola within the next few years.
Strauss could not speculate the height or capacity of the building as the plans are still being reviewed by Mineola reps.
“They are proposing to develop the property,” Strauss said.
Earlier this month, the village board approved a resolution “declaring its intent to act as lead agency in a coordinated [environmental] review,” which would be forward the resolution to other potential agencies that could conduct the analysis. Those groups, including Mill Creek, would have 30 days to contest Mineola’s asservation. The village has been lead agent on every proposed apartment complex, including the rising and opened buildings on Old Country Road.
Mill Creek would build the complex on the eastern most part of the vacant Corpus Christi School, officials said. The western structure would be retained by the church.
Bill Garry, a lawyer representing Corpus Christi, confirmed Thursday that the parish has struck a deal to sell the property to Mill Creek if the developer gains approval for its plans from the village. Garry said the sale “will allow the parish to continue pastoral services, to ensure that there are sufficient funds going forward.”
-Richard Tedesco contributed to this report
