By Marley Seaman
"I'd say in the next two years, this whole area [about three acres in size] will be done," said Ambrosino. He added that he expects the space will be filled by offices, "high-end retail" or homes. A number of residents spoke up to say they did not want to see more storage buildings; there are already several in the area. The Town is pressuring the Courtesy Hotel, as the Hempstead Avenue hotel has long been called an eyesore and considered a magnet for crime. The rest of the blighted area is occupied by parking lots, a delicatessen and a Mobil gas station; there is also a small parcel of land on Hempstead Gardens Avenue.
A. Thomas Levin, attorney for the Courtesy's owners, confirmed to the Herald that the hotel¹s owners might soon sell the property.
"We told the Town at the public hearing [on May 23] that we are in contract to sell the property to a developer," said Levin. Levin declined to name the developer. However, at the meeting, Ambrosino said that a "nationally-known developer" is among the possible buyers, and named Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential as one of those possibilities.
The Town of Hempstead has taken steps toward having the Courtesy condemned, and Ambrosino said that those moves are already showing results, as the hotel's owners are trying to sell the property. The Town would prefer that a developer buy the property instead of taking over the land by itself.
"The threat of condemnation is forcing the owner to the table," he said. "Ideally, if the parties come to terms... the Courtesy section [of the blight] could be knocked down and rebuilt over the next year and a half."
West Hempstead Civic Association President Rosalie Norton said that some of the interested developers have already contacted the West Hempstead and the Cathedral Gardens Civic Associations.
The Town adopted a blight study on May 23. Late last year, it had attempt to have the property condemned, but changed methods after a clerical error prevented a legal notice from being printed in Newsday.
Norton said that the Civic Association¹s next target was the Capri Motor Inn on Hempstead Turnpike.
"Capri's next on the list," she said, adding that she hopes redevelopment of the blight will raise property values, causing the Capri's owners to decide to sell.
Supermarket plans presented
Representatives from the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company also attended the meeting to give Civic Association members information about the store that will soon be built in West Hempstead. They predicted the store will open in the first quarter of 2007. The residents voiced their concerns about the traffic that the 66,000-square foot supermarket will bring to Cherry Valley Avenue.
Robert Bencivegna, Stop & Shop's New York Director of Real Estate, said that a new traffic light will be placed on Cherry Valley Avenue at the entrance to the supermarket¹s parking lot. Drivers will not be allowed to make left turns out of the Hempstead Turnpike exit.
Some remained unconvinced, however, and suggested that the supermarket will make traffic on both streets worse, especially when delivery trucks are entering and exiting the store. Most of those deliveries will be made between 7 and 11 a.m.
Bencivegna said the trucks will not use the main entrances to the parking lot, and that the company will continue to monitor traffic on those streets after the supermarket opens.
The Wolf X-Ray building will be torn down to make room for the development, which will also include a bank and a coffee shop. Bencivegna said the coffee shop will probably be a Starbucks.
When it is completed, the shared parking lot will have some 300 spaces, Bencivegna said, and the Stop & Shop will employ about 100 people, 20 in full-time positions. The rest will be part-time employees.
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