Residents set to move into Cornerstone at Yorkshire in Lynbrook

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Tenants will begin moving into the Cornerstone at Yorkshire apartment complex on Friday, ushering in a new era for the site of the former Capri Lynbrook Motor Inn, pending approval from the Nassau County fire marshal.

“I’m thrilled that it’s finally happening,” Mayor Alan Beach said, “and it’s ahead of schedule.”

The four-story, 80-unit, $24 million apartment building replaced the motel, which was razed in June 2020, after several battles between village officials and the motel’s owners over alleged criminal activity at the site.

Apartments include quartz counters, stainless-steel appliances and high ceilings, and the complex will have a fitness center, clubroom and courtyard. It comprises eight two-bedroom apartments that rent for about $3,400 per month, 44 one-bedroom units that cost roughly $2,800 and 28 studios, which are about $2,300 per month. Eight units will be set aside as workforce housing, which, under federal Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations, must have reduced rents for households earning up to 80 percent of the median income for the area. The first story of the building houses a parking garage, and three stories will be for the apartments over the nearly 1-acre site.

The village board approved the project, 4-1, in November 2019, and the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency unanimously granted a PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, agreement for it in February 2020. The IDA granted a mortgage-recording tax abatement, a sales-tax abatement and a 20-year PILOT, which will begin at the present tax level of $228,155 per year and gradually increase to $1.1 million by its final year.

Terwilliger & Bartone Properties has tried for years to build an apartment complex in Lynbrook, including the Cornerstone at Lynbrook project, which spurred community backlash and a contentious mayoral race between Beach and his former deputy mayor Hilary Becker, who did not seek re-election when his trustee term came up in March.

Just before the motel was razed, the general manager, Henry Wagner, told the Herald that the facility’s managing partner thought the time was right to sell the property, adding that the village’s claims against the motel were never proven in a court of law.

Anthony Bartone, the managing partner for Terwilliger & Bartone Properties, said he was pleased with the progress of the project. “We couldn’t be more excited about it,” he said earlier this year, ““and hopefully it leads to other opportunities in Lynbrook. We hope that we can demonstrate to the village how lovely these buildings can be. Putting this in place of an old motel is certainly a step up.”

For updates on the project, or to learn more, visit cornerstoneyorkshire.com.