Developer inks deal to close the Courtesy Hotel

The Courtesy Hotel officially closed its doors last week as developer Mill Creek Residential Trust signed the deal to take over the property, demolish the crime-ridden eyesore and replace it with an apartment complex.

The closure was a cause for celebration for local civic leaders and elected officials who fought for years to shutter the hot-sheet hotel.

“Our residents have worked long and hard to have the Courtesy Hotel closed and sold to a reputable developer who is willing to revitalize an area [that] was a blight on our community,” said Rosalie Norton, president of West Hempstead Community Support Association. “I’m delighted that Mill Creek Residential Trust has enough confidence in our community to be willing to develop an apartment complex which will enhance West Hempstead. Their investment will spark an interest in others to consider West Hempstead an area ripe for improvements, which will bring about further improvements to our retail and commercial properties.”

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, along with Council members Ed Ambrosino, James Darcy and Dorothy Goosby, were among those who proposed bringing transit-oriented development to West Hempstead in November 2008. The town created a new building zone providing greater development density for construction projects that encourage mass transit use.

Shortly thereafter, Mill Creek Residential Trust — formerly Trammell Crow Residential — landed the deal to erect the Alexan at West Hempstead Station in the new building zone. The commuter-friendly development is expected to be a 150-unit, four-story complex that features market-rate rental apartments. It will also house a parking garage and a 4,000-square-foot amenity center, which will include a clubhouse with a lounge and café area, state-of-the-art fitness center, video game and movie room, conference room, landscaped courtyard with a swimming pool and sundeck, and an outdoor gas fireplace and barbecue area. West Hempstead residents lobbied for years to have such a building complex replace the seedy hotel, contending that the project is the catalyst the community needs to start its revitalization.

“We at Hempstead Town Hall couldn’t be happier for West Hempstead neighbors,” Murray said in a statement Monday. “Working closely with civic leaders in West Hempstead, we have shuttered the Courtesy Hotel and cleared the way for the purchase of the property by a top-notch developer. I can’t wait to take a wrecking ball to that community eyesore and break ground on the beautiful new homes that will replace the hotel.”

In her statement, Murray thanked Norton for her tireless efforts to “eliminate a blight on West Hempstead while helping us to create a very progressive and dynamic home development that will be a key component of West Hempstead’s Renaissance.”

According to Mill Creek Vice President Maria Rigopoulos, the developer expects a 20-month construction period. She said it is now in the process of doing prep work, which consists of staging, cleaning out the building and applying for a demolition permit.