Lynbrook Marriott plans moving slowly

Developer emphasizes commitment to project, despite years of delays

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At the Atria Tanglewood senior center in Lynbrook, Lee Browning of Browning Hotel Properties LLC of Riverhead, addressed an audience that included business owners, village personnel, Chamber of Commerce members and residents, and discussed the exhaustive history of a proposed Courtyard by Marriott hotel for downtown Lynbrook.

“Twelve years ago, we started the quest to put a hotel in Lynbrook,” Browning said at the Jan. 10 meeting. “We had three sites previous to this, all of which did not work out. We have steadily pursued getting it done.”

The hotel was first proposed in 2004. In 2005, Browning issued an informal proposal for a large-scale hotel on Earle Avenue, but it was shot down after public outcry.

After two other locations fizzled out, Browning offered the current plan for a six-story hotel atop a self-contained parking garage on what is currently a municipal parking lot on the corner of Broadway and Langdon Place. The garage would have 306 parking spaces, which would be divided between the hotel and the village. The estimated cost of the project is $25 to $30 million.

Though Browning has been working to obtain building permits, the process has slowed. At the Tanglewood meeting, he said that there would be one final public hearing on Jan. 17, where he expected to get approval to start construction.

“He is incorrect,” Mayor Bill Hendrick said of Browning. “I don’t know where he got that from. He hasn’t even got all of his papers in yet, so there is no public hearing.”

Reached by phone last Friday, Browning said his attorney gave him incorrect information and there was no public hearing scheduled. According to Brian Stanton, the village’s Building Department superintendent, Browning must fill out final paperwork. “There is incomplete application status,” Stanton said. “We require the proper applications before we could have a public hearing.”

The latest obstacle is part of a recurring theme of delays. Browning said that Marriott International usually gives projects a four-year deadline for completion. As this plan enters into its 13th year, the company has been flexible. The delays have led to unconfirmed reports that Browning might abandon the project, which he dismissed at the meeting.

“Nothing could be more wrong than that,” Browning said. “When I started it, I was 60. I’m 72 now. Time goes by fast … I’m going to continue the project.”

He said he wanted to bring on one or two partners so that he could be bought out once the hotel is operating, pending approval by Marriott.

The hotel management group constructed three hotels while waiting for permission to build in Lynbrook. It is now erecting one in Riverhead, which is slated for completion by May 15.

Browning said that the Riverhead hotel distracted him, which is one of the reasons for the paperwork delays and the public hearing misunderstanding. He also said that Hendrick has had many demands.

Once Browning gets authorization from the village board for a building permit, the next step would be for the crew to order the plans and then wait for an architect to submit them to the board for approval, which would take about four months, Browning said.

He expressed both frustration and an understanding of the delays, but said his goal was to start construction by next year. “We would like to break ground in 2018,” he said. “Our original goal was 2010.”

According to Browning, the construction should take about two years, so the hotel wouldn’t be open until 2020 at the earliest.

The parking structure would be built first, he added. During construction of the garage, commuters who use the current lots would be offered rides on a 14-passenger shuttle to and from the Lynbrook train station and other parking areas farther from the construction site.

The hotel would have 156 rooms, a pool, exercise rooms, meeting areas and two outdoor garden decks for cocktail hours and parties.

Hendrick said that the board is still waiting for the attorneys representing the hotel corporation to make the proper presentation to the Building Department, so he could not confirm a 2018 start date.

“If they pass the final public hearing and they get the application and permits, they can build,” Hendrick said. “If not, they won’t.”