Politics & Government

Costco's BZA Postponed Again, Town Welcomes Westbury Plaza

A weekly look-in at news in the Town of Hempstead.

The Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals has once again granted a request to push off Costco’s case to build a gas station at its Lawrence store.

The request came from Costco’s attorney, Daniel Baker, who had asked for another hearing on Nov. 28 in order to prepare against any opposition. The board, however, rejected that request on Wednesday, and completely took the case off the calendar, pending the town board’s decision on Costco’s application.

Click here to read more about the decision.

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Town Welcomes Gallery at Westbury Plaza

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, Equity One, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Olson and other representatives of Equity One held the eagerly awaited ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday at The Gallery at Westbury Plaza.

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The project, a 330,000-square-foot commercial destination for shopping, dining, banking and more, will create more than 600 permanent jobs in management, retail, business, financial operations, restaurant services and other career areas, according to the town.

“When we purchased this site less than three years ago, we envisioned building something special that would be a destination for people across Long Island and today we can all see the realization of that vision," Olson said. "The Town of Hempstead has been a tremendous partner in this process and we thank them for helping us get to this point."

Shopping destinations at the Gallery at Westbury Plaza include Nordstrom Rack, Bloomingdale’s (The Outlet Store), Saks Off 5th, The Container Store, Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, S.A. Elite by Sports Authority, Old Navy, Ulta Beauty, Red Mango Yogurt and Smoothies, Shake Shack and Verizon Wireless.

Total economic activity resulting from construction of the site is estimated at around $160 million, with an average of 500 workers employed annually during the construction phase, according to a release from the town.

Murray and the Hempstead Town Board reviewed and approved Equity One’s site plan to ensure that it complied with all town codes and building requirements, as well as studying its impact on the surrounding environment.


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