New housing, stores rising in Valley Stream

The corner of Rockaway Avenue and Sunrise Highway looks a lot different than it did this time last year. Five floors of concrete and steel will change the look of any corner.

Sun Valley Towers, a long-awaited housing development, is under construction, and could be completed later this year. The Herald toured the site last week, along with village officials, and had an opportunity to hear from the builders, who have already drawn up plans for a second complex behind it.

The building under construction will have 72 apartments on the second through fifth floors. The first floor will feature retail and parking for those businesses, as well as a lobby for the apartment complex. There will be a parking lot underground for residents.

Steve Valiotis, the developer, said he is pleased with the progress of construction despite several delays, including one when the Long Island Power Authority had to move utility poles. Valiotis said that even an unfinished building is an improvement for the corner, which once housed an adult store. “If you compare what it was to what it will be,” he said, “it’s day and night.”

Valiotis said that his staff has already started to reach out to prospective tenants for the first floor. He envisions businesses that will serve the residents who live upstairs, such as a coffee shop — Starbucks is rumored to be considering the location — a bank, deli, market or restaurant. The retail space, which faces Brooklyn Avenue, can be divided up to suit the needs of the businesses that move in, the builders say. There is also a space for one business in the back corner of the building, facing Rockaway Avenue.

On the second floor, the space is mostly open, with the exception of the load-bearing cinderblock walls. Patricio Solar, the building’s architect, said that the building will have a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. There will be an elevator, three stairwells and a garbage chute. The major structural work is nearing completion, and once it is done, the apartments will be divided up.

Developers say that the apartments will cater to young professionals looking for housing near mass transit — the Valley Stream train station is two blocks away — and young families who are not yet ready to buy houses. Solar said that the apartments will have features such as granite countertops, but, he added, “They’re not Manhattan-type high-end apartments.”

Mike Sullivan, the attorney for the developers, disputed recent rumors that the building would be used for low-income Section 8 housing. “The hope for this is to be a very high-quality building which will rent itself,” he said.

The building will have a second-floor courtyard, which, Solar said, will have benches and a garden. Residents will also have access to the roof, which will feature a view of the Manhattan skyline. It will also have a tennis court and solar panels to power some of the building’s common areas.

Eventually, Solar said, the cinderblock walls will be covered with red and beige bricks. There is also a plan to construct an overpass, similar to what Hofstra University has over Hempstead Turnpike, so residents can get across Sunrise Highway safely to access the train station and the downtown business district. It would stretch from the grass triangle between Brooklyn Avenue, Sunrise and Fourth Street to a grassy area near Collision Concepts, on the north side.

Sun Valley 2?

Valiotis doesn’t plan to stop with the current building, however. He is looking to acquire 10 additional lots behind it, along Rockaway Avenue and Fourth Street, for a six-story building that would have one floor of retail and five floors of apartments — Sun Valley Towers Phase II.

Directly behind the building is an empty storefront, and behind that, a two-story house. A row of stores with apartments above them continues along Rockaway Avenue. According to Sullivan, the developer is interested in all of that property, with the exception of a small office building at the corner.

There are also three homes, including one multi-family dwelling, and a village parking lot along Fourth Street. Sullivan said that the developer has reached an agreement to purchase three of the properties — two on Rockaway Avenue and one on Fourth Street — but offers to other property owners were not accepted.

Sullivan said he has approached the village about the possibility of using eminent domain to acquire the other properties. Mayor Ed Fare said it is an action the village could consider, but much more study has to be done. Phase II has not even been formally proposed before any village board.

Fare said that Valiotis has a track record of building successful developments in other communities. Fare added that he would welcome an improvement to the dilapidated storefronts along Rockaway Avenue.

The rights of the current property owners are a concern, Fare said, but he supports this type of redevelopment in the commercial district, which would bring in residents to support businesses. “All possibilities remain on the table,” he said. “We’re exploring every option available to us.”