By Sarah Moskowitz
Sterling Glen Communities of Manhattan, a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, is the private company behind the project.
The development company is currently drawing construction plans and completing their finances, said Sterling Glen president Michael Daly. Drawings and an application for a building permit will be submitted to the Village of Lynbrook around Jan. 1, 2003, and construction is set to begin in June 2003, said Daly.
The village board approved the changing of the site from a residential to commercial lot in January 1999, which resulted in a February 1999 lawsuit by nine residents claiming that the decision was unlawful. Although the residents won the suit, the ruling was overturned in July 2001 by a Nassau County Appellate Court, allowing the rezoning.
Tanglewood Crest, a 90,000 square foot residence, will be built for senior citizens on the northeast corner of Ocean Avenue, bordering Tanglewood Preserve. The four-story residence will consist of 100 one-unit bedrooms between 552 and 624 square feet. Daly said he does not feel the building will be an eyesore.
"If you are very confident in the work you do, you're sure you can attract tenants," said Daly, who added that he is excited that Tanglewood Preserve will serve as a backyard. "I don't have a senior center, I have a resort."
The Tanglewood site has been vacant since 1994 and Sterling Glen began working on the project in 1997. Sterling Glen currently owns 10,000 square feet of the Tanglewood site and will purchase the entire 2.2 acres from a private owner who also ran Camp Tanglewood when construction starts. The project will cost $25 million.
Daly estimates the property will generate $400,000 in property taxes annually, of which the majority of which will go to the Malverne School District and the remaining portion to the Village of Lynbrook. Lynbrook Mayor Eugene Scarpato estimates Lynbrook will receive about one-third of the income tax.
"We welcome [the residence] because it is a tax income for the village [and] beautification of the property," said Lynbrook Mayor Eugene Scarpato. "That's really a wasteland right now."
The facility will provide such luxuries as transportation for residents and meal and laundry services so residents do not have to leave the premises often. Daly said that few of the residents in his homes drive, but a parking lot with 48 spaces will also be built on the property. Daly said the average age of residents in his homes is 75, but ages range from 65 to over 100. Sterling Glen has eleven other senior communities in New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Both Scarpato and Daly said there is a huge demand for senior housing on the South Shore of Long Island.
According to the 2000 Census, 18 percent, or 3,718 residents of Lynbrook are over the age of 65, and 15.6 percent, or 1,398 residents of Malverne are over age 65. There are already two assisted living facilities and one senior residence in the Village of Lynbrook and one in Malverne.
"It opens up another level of people who want to be taken care of," said Scarpato. "They're looking to make this look a little bit different so that it may attract younger people. Plus, the three [senior residences] that we have are full."
