By JOSEPH KELLARD
Owner of Alrose Group, a Manhattan-based redeveloper of shopping malls, Rosenberg wants to build a King Kullen where the supermarket once stood. He recently purchased the adjacent building that houses the Oceanside Theater, Oceanside Barber Shop and Count Dracula¹s Comic Crypt, and in their place he plans to build either a CVS or Walgreens pharmacy. And he seeks to buy the neighboring Eagle gas station and two restaurants as well, possibly to bring in a Starbucks and some mom-and-pop stores, all with the necessary parking fields.
³I haven¹t closed on the deals yet,² Rosenberg said about the supermarket and pharmacy, ³but we¹re close to signature, and I feel comfortable enough that even if these don¹t go through, we¹ll do something similar.²
Rosenberg insisted that despite the fact that two CVS stores and one Walgreens there are already in Oceanside, ³both companies are eager to make deals with me.² Real estate representatives of both CVS and Walgreens declined to comment on whether they were in negotiations with Alrose Group. A representative of King Kullen was unavailable for comment.
Starbucks, too, has a store in town, and Rosenberg originally planned to build the coffee shop with a drive-through next to the Commerce Bank at the corner of Long Beach and Foxhurst roads. That was before a fire last November destroyed the vacant Foodtown property he had purchased about six months earlier. His pre-fire plan also included a gourmet Trader Joe¹s-type supermarket in the existing building. After it burned to the ground, Rosenberg decided to go with a larger supermarket and to purchase the neighboring theater, barber shop and memorabilia store for redevelopment.
While the movie theater owners, Henry and Anne Stempfel, were on vacation and unavailable for comment last week, Rosenberg claimed the couple was ³very, very eager for me to buy them out of their lease,² adding that ³there¹s been absolutely no forcing of anybody here.²
Mike Sideman, the owner of the memorabilia store for six years, said, ³I feel like I¹m in limbo. No one is forcing me out, but no one is coming to tell me what might be going on here, either.²
Dominick Sansotta, who has owned the barber shop for 22 years, doesn¹t necessarily want to leave, but sees the handwriting on the wall. ³I¹d like to stay,² he said, ³but it looks like I really have no choice.²
Both businessmen said they would reopen in Oceanside.
When discussing the property on the adjacent street, between Castleton Court and Homecrest Court, Rosenberg said, ³After I got comfortable in testing the waters of that market, I said there¹s only one more block that looks ugly in Oceanside, and I¹m going to hit that.²
However, Rosenberg¹s purchase of that 40,000-square-foot parcel ‹ featuring the Eagle gas station, a Japanese restaurant and the former Periwinkles restaurant ‹ has been stalled. He is in contract with the restaurant owner, but regarding the gas station, Rosenberg said, ³They can¹t deliver that station vacant to me at closing. In other words, that guy may have a lease for five or so years.²
Frank Amray, who has leased the gas station property for 10 years and has about 4 1/2 years remaining on his lease, said he was unaware the property may be sold to someone else. ³I have the first option to buy the property,² Amray said. ³I have a deal with the owner, a 15-year option.² Amray declined to allow the Herald to contact the owner directly.
Rosenberg expects to sign contracts with King Kullen and either CVS or Walgreens within a month, and hopes to break ground within six months, pending Town of Hempstead zoning board approval and potential community opposition.
Asked if he planned to meet with Oceanside residents about his proposed redevelopment project, Rosenberg said, ³I absolutely would meet with them. I have no problem with it. But what I¹m going to do there is community-minded. I wouldn¹t do anything that they don¹t need or want. But what I¹m bringing there is definitely better than what was there before.²
³I think a grocery store and a CVS would be wonderful, as long as they control the traffic,² said Donna Dotzler, a resident of Harrison Avenue across from the former Foodtown, where the Oceanside Motel was demolished last October and a town parking lot is slated to be built this year.
³It doesn¹t concern me at all what goes in there, so long as they clean it up,² said a resident of Castleton Court who asked to remain anonymous, referring to the wreckage that remains of the burned-down building.
³I think the biggest and best thing would be some sort of a food store,² said Bob Tower, owner of the nearby Towers Funeral Home and past president of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce. ³That would probably be the best thing for all the residents in the area.²
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or 569-4000 ext.287.
