By Angela Marshall
The $45 million project would be built on the former Darby Drug site by Chase Partners of Bedminster, N.J. It meets all village code requirements, including parking. If approved, the complex will have 544 parking spaces, of which 450 will be beneath the apartment buildings.
The 7.1-acre site would have two separate buildings, each surrounding a courtyard and recreational space. Other amenities would include a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, media room, library and computer/Internet facilities. Stone/stucco exteriors would emulate old world gothic architecture, according to plans submitted to the village.
Building One would have approximately 92 one-bedroom apartments and 117 two-bedrooms. Building Two would have 48 one-bedrooms and 93 two-bedrooms. This breakdown, submitted to the village last November, was based on a total of 350 apartments instead of 349.
Landscaping would be used as a visual and acoustic buffer to the rest of the neighborhood, which consists of other multi-family housing to the north, industrial and office buildings to the east, west and south as well as a village park to the west.
The developers will present the planning board with information on potential impacts the project might have on village services such as water, electric and sewage. School officials have already expressed concern that the project might bring in more students than its buildings can handle. Chase Partners, in documents submitted to the village, said that based on a study of the children already living in multi-family housing in the district, the project would bring in about 46 children, or one child for every 7.5 units. However, the developers said that do to the larger scale of the Signature Place Apartments in comparison to some of the smaller multi-family dwellings, which presently exist in the village, it would really be about 19 children, or one child per 18 units.
Figuring that the district spends about $14,933 per student annually, Chase Partners said the development would cost the schools about $284,000. The numbers are based on the 2000 budget, and the cost would be higher now closer to $18,170 per student. But the money is not spread out equally, as high school students and those with special needs require more funding.
In addition, representatives of the school district have said that the number of students the project will generate cannot be computed simply by looking at the number of children moving into the apartments. Many empty-nesters are looking to downsize but still stay in the village. If they moved into the apartments, their homes would then go on the market, and might be purchased by young couples with children or planning to start families.
The project is expected to bring in about $1.4 million in school taxes annually, 72 percent more than the current school taxes for the property of $398,000. Chase estimates that the village property taxes will increase from $88,000 to $314,000 and that the Town of Hempstead's will increase from $557,000 to $2,000,000.
The Planning Board meeting will be held at Village Hall, One College Place, at 7:30 p.m. on April 29.
