Two new apartment buildings – one with 28 units and one with 172 – are coming to Mineola after the board granted them approval on Wednesday night.
According to Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira, the larger development, which will sit across from the Mineola Athletic Association Fields at 110 Willis Ave., is likely to be the last major development in the village.
“This is one of, if not the last one, of the larger projects in our village, because there really are no other dead spaces in our village,” Pereira said. “I think this is one of the final pieces of the puzzle, and the puzzle is almost complete.”
It’s a notable statement for the mayor, who has overseen the approval of over half a dozen apartment buildings, and for the village, which has added over 1,100 apartment units in the past 15 years, over 99% of which are occupied, and has over 1,000 more under construction or in the pipeline.
Pereira has said the motivation for increasing housing is to bring more people into the village to support the business community, increase the tax base and revitalize the downtown.
While increasing housing has been a goal of the past few village boards through its master plan, longtime Trustee Paul Cusato has voiced his opposition to larger developments, such as 110 Willis Ave., which he voted against on Wednesday night.
He has consistently cited concerns that the building would increase traffic, overcrowd the village and was out of step with the village’s character over the roughly five-month public hearing process.
“I have issues,” Cusato said. “I’m not a happy camper with this.”
Cusato was the only dissenting vote, and the five-story, 172-unit apartment at 110 Willis Ave. received positive feedback from the other four members of the board, who passed the plan with a 4-1 vote.
Trustees, including Pereira, emphasized that the currently empty space would “inevitably” be developed into something and an apartment building would be the least imposing and best use, as studies show apartments create less traffic than commercial developments, and because new residents would contribute to the “village’s fabric” and support the business community.
The other four board members thanked developer Eden Blue for taking their comments on the project over the months-long hearing process seriously and praised the building’s public amenities, space offered to the village and the developer’s committed improvements to the MAA fields.
“It’s been a journey,” Deputy Mayor Janine Sartori said. “You became a really good partner to our whole village. You didn’t just hear our concerns. You met our needs beyond this board.”
The first iteration of this proposal, presented to the board in July, was a six-story, 204-unit apartment building. All five board members pushed back on its size and design, saying it was “too large,” and “didn’t feel Mineola.”
The Eden Blue team reduced the unit number twice throughout the hearing process and created a proposal using different building materials to better match the surrounding village.
The developer’s team also improved the public amenities and space provided to the village in its host community benefits package over the months-long hearing process.
The approved plan includes increased greenery and tree planting, public restrooms, improvements to the MAA field area and stadium seating, a new concession stand for the MAA and a 1,100 square foot space inside the building for the organization.
The agreed-upon proposal also includes a 1,400-square-foot space, which will be offered to the Mineola Historical Society to create a new, larger, more publicly accessible museum space.
The society has been seeking renovations, expansions and improvements to its current roughly 900 square-foot space, which is in an old gas station at the front of Wilson Park and doesn’t have proper fire suppression systems.
110 Willis Ave. will provide 262 parking spaces, or 1.5 per unit, and has 6,000 square feet of retail space it plans to rent out. Although the tenants have not yet been determined, the developer’s team believes that a brunch restaurant or coffee shop would be a suitable fit.
Over at the historic 199 Jericho Turnpike, the former home of a Bank of America, developer Adam Mann of 199 Mineola LLC also received approval for a four-story, 28-unit apartment building with 36 parking spaces, which plans to preserve the historic storefront.
Mann’s building also initially faced pushback from the board for the number of units and parking spaces. His first proposal was for a 30-unit building with 36 parking spaces, and the board thanked him for decreasing the unit number.
“It’s a beautiful building,” Sartori said. “We appreciate that you heard us and that you made those changes.”
The space where the other two units were proposed will be used as amenity space, likely a business room and a gym, Mann said.
The board, particularly Trustee Jeffery Clark, urged Mann to plan to bury the power lines that run in front of the building, citing a desire to make the building’s facade as visually appealing as possible.
Mann said his consultation with PSEG determined it would be cost-prohibitive, but after negotiating with the board, the parties decided they’d explore options for funding it and obtain additional opinions from PSEG.
Unlike on Willis Avenue, Mann’s building won over Cusato and received unanimous board approval.
The approvals mark the end of months-long public hearings where the board pushed the developers to reduce unit numbers, traffic concerns were aired and research processes for each development. An independent water and sewage study was conducted, confirming that the village’s systems would be able to sustain the additional buildings.
Both development teams stated that they expected to break ground within approximately four months and that the construction process would take over a year.
The next Mineola Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for December.
