Village, developer honored for plan

Valley Stream was one of a host of communities across Long Island that were honored last Friday at the Vision Long Island Smart Growth Awards at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. The village and the developer of the Brooke Point apartment building on Gibson Boulevard were recognized for their efforts to bring affordable, high-density housing to the community.

The development, which is under construction and projected to be finished in June 2016, was cited as an example of the kind of project that is needed for the revitalization of Long Island’s downtowns. Brooke Point’s proximity to the adjacent Gibson train station, its façade and its planned rental prices were lauded as in line with what numerous studies have shown is necessary to prevent young people from leaving the region, as well as providing housing choices for first responders and senior citizens.

Valley Stream Building Superintendent Tom McAleer and Peter Florey of D&F Development accepted the award. They thanked Vision Long Island for the honor, and Florey extended further thanks to village officials and to Mayor Ed Fare for their support for the project.

In a video presentation, Fare said that the village’s master plan calls for transit-oriented, high-density housing. He said that four such projects — the Hawthorne apartments, Sun Valley Towers, Brooke Point and the Promenade apartments proposed for North Central Avenue — are in the works.

“We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in investment,” he said. “There’s a number of things it’s going to accomplish for us: first, you’re taking blighted, underutilized downtown areas and you’re improving them with 2015 technology. The next thing you’re going to achieve is bringing people into your downtown area, or you’re keeping people who are downsizing, or empty nesters, who might otherwise have left. You’re gonna have foot traffic going up and down the business district, spending money; help the businesses. And also, if you have these people living in the village, we’re now stabilizing our tax base.”