Business & Tech

Residents Receive Time Line for Courtesy Hotel Destruction and Development

Mill Creek Residential, the new owners of the infamous hotel, share plans for the site at West Hempstead Civic meeting.

West Hempstead will undergo some spring cleaning next month, when the new owners of the Courtesy Hotel plan to finally rid the community of the infamous establishment.

Maria Rigopoulos, of Mill Creek Residential, the developer that bought the building on Feb. 10, spoke to residents on Monday during a special meeting hosted by the West Hempstead Community Support Association.

"You probably haven’t seen a lot of activity there and you’re probably thinking, 'What are they doing?'" Rigopoulos said to residents gathered at West Hempstead High School. 

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She explained that workers have been busy abating the building for asbestos.

"It was built in the 1960s, so it's pretty loaded with asbestos," she added.

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They have also been setting up their staging area, which is right next door to the site, on property owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, she said.

"The MTA was very cooperative," allowing the developer to use this space near the West Hempstead stop on the Long Island Rail Road, she explained.

Rigopoulos expects the team to finish abatement by the end of this week. The next step will be to secure a demolition permit from the Town of Hempstead, which she said should take about two weeks.

“We need to provide certain certifications... but we don’t expect any delays," she added.“We’re anticipating around the third week in April to demolish."

Rigopoulos said there will no doubt be a celebration planned near the site on that day, recognizing that many local groups, leaders and residents played a role in closing the Courtesy's doors. She will provide more details in the coming weeks.

Looking beyond demolition day, she estimates that it will take 20 months of construction to erect the 150-unit apartment complex that is planned for the site. The first units could be delivered around September 2012.

“In 2011..you’re not going to see a lot of vertical activity," she said. Construction will be taking place at the site, but they won't start building upward until later in the year. 

Rigopoulos promised residents, "You won’t be disappointed…we’re really excited about the buildings, the layouts, everything.”

In addition to the 150 market-rate apartments, the complex will also have a parking garage, a fitness center and many amenities. While rents most likely will not be set until late 2012, she said that renters will be required to pass a criminal background check, a credit check and a salary check.

"This should give you some peace of mind that any resident who is living there legally will have gone through that," she said.

Rigopoulos, who has managed similar buildings in the past, said the development will not only be aesthetically pleasing, but could also help stimulate the local economy.

"Usually when we come into an area... spending increases," she said, adding that it could also spur an investor to take a look at the large property across the street, the former site of Shoppers Village and National Liquidators, which is now vacant.

"I've heard rumors," Rigopoulos said, without going into details. “We’d love to see something great happen there."

Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association, said she recently spoke with the owner of this property, which includes both the building and the massive parking lot.

“I said we’d be more than willing to help them in anyway we can if what they want to bring to the community is an asset," Norton said. "If it isn’t, they may get some opposition."

Rigopoulos said the apartment complex and any development made at the old Shoppers Village property could also help restore train service to the West Hempstead branch. Currently, the MTA has suspended weekend service.

Mill Creek Residential has spoke with MTA officials and wrote letters to them explaining how they are investing in the area and bringing in new residents that will most likely be train and bus commuters. However, they have been told that MTA's fiscal problems are far too big at this time to consider reversing any of the service reductions.

Still, Rigopoulos was optimistic. 

"If something happens on our site and across the street, and ridership improves," she said, they may be forced to reevaluate the service cuts.

The nearby train service was a key factor in getting the approvals from the Town to construct the apartment complex, which was classified as a transit-oriented project. As of now, those who choose to live in the development will still have sufficient train service Monday through Friday during normal commuting times, so Rigopoulos wasn't too concerned about the lack of weekend trains deterring potential renters.

“Have you ever met a town that gave your organization such a big welcome as we did?” one West Hempstead man asked her.

“No, it’s unprecedented," she said.. "My boss said he’s never seen anything like it…we usually get chased out of town."

Norton then turned everyone's attention to the back of the room, where Councilman Ed Ambrosino was seated. She explained that it was Ambrosino who reached out to Mill Creek Residential, then called Trammel Crowe, about purchasing and developing the site of the Courtesy Hotel, after learning about what a blight it had been for the community.

"If it wasn’t for Ed Ambrosino... the Courtesy would probably still be there,"Norton added. "Or worse, it could have been taken and put into eminent domain and condemned."

Ambrosino spoke briefly thanking Rigopoulos and Mill Creek Residential for their investment, and the community for rallying together to make this happen.

He said,"It's been a long hard fight."


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