Developer Presents New Plan to Revitalize West Hempstead

Development is an imperative part of every town’s growth, and one local resident is doing his part to revitalize West Hempstead.

Barry Leon brought his plan in front of the local community at the West Hempstead Community Support and Civic Association meeting last Wednesday to inform residents and have an open discussion about the development.

Located at the old AVF Carting parcel on Hempstead Gardens Drive, Leon, who already has buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, and his team is seeking to rezone the land from an industrial classification to URD-C. They have a hearing scheduled with the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on Nov. 15 to request this action.

Leon’s architect, Michael Bonacasa of H2M Architects & Engineers, explained that the two-acre property will include 60 1,000 sq. ft. two bedroom units in a three-story building. The first floor will be a single unit taking up the entire floor. Two duplex units will be above the first floor unit, with a staircase leading up to them, Bonacasa said.

The complex will have 100 parking spaces – one and two thirds of a space for each unit built – which is more than required by the Town of Hempstead. If developed, taxes paid on the property are estimated to be “two to three times of what AVF Carting is currently paying,” Leon said.

“The building itself will be residential in nature,” Bonacasa continued. “It will look more like a townhouse/garden apartment building rather than an apartment building.”

Leon said community support for this project at the BZA hearing would be welcomed since it would get rid of a “contractor yard that looks ugly.” He believes this is a great way to get more people in the neighborhood and help small businesses thrive.

“I think it will enhance a dead area,” he said. “It will make it better instead of being a thing that industrial trucks drive into. It will be more people walking the streets, going to stores and hoping on the rail road.”

Leon plans to make the landscaping “green and beautiful.” He also discussed his propensity towards energy efficiency in building and said that the property will feature a fence around the perimeter, a children’s playground and security cameras. Market price, by the time the units are completed, could be around $1,700 to $1,800.

He said that this space would serve “two ends of the life spectrum – for people who are too young and not ready for houses yet and don’t know where their jobs are and people who are older and have sold."

If the application is approved by the Town’s BZA, planning and construction for the project could tentatively be completed in a few years.

“I think that at the right price it will fill up nicely and I think it will make the area more interesting,” Leon said.

The BZA will hear the rezoning application for this property on Nov. 15 at 10:30 a.m. at Town Hall in Hempstead.