By Dana Williams
The applause came after Maria Rigopoulos, a development associate for real estate firm Trammell Crow Residential (TCR), gave a presentation to town officials about TCR's plans to build a four-story luxury apartment complex on the hotel's site. The developer's proposed plan is one that nearly every West Hempstead resident and organization has endorsed.
TCR's Alexan at West Hempstead Station complex will feature a mixture of one to three bedroom apartments, company representatives said, that would rent for $1,950 to $2,750 per month. Renters will also be provided with a host of amenities including a swimming pool with a sun deck, clubhouse equipped with a lounge and fitness and business centers as well as professional on-site management, leasing and concierge service. The project will cost TCR $66 million to build and, Rigopoulos said, it would take from 15 to 18 months complete. The apartment complex is expected to generate a greater tax benefit for West Hempstead, representatives said.
Residents who spoke at the Dec. 11 town hearing said they believe the apartment complex is the catalyst that West Hempstead needs to begin its revitalization, with many noting that no business owner wants to operate near a problematic establishment like the Courtesy. For years, residents have called the hotel an "eye sore," "no-tell motel" and a "den of iniquity." The hotel has been the site of a variety of criminal activities, including drug use, prostitution and assaults.
Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Civic Association, said she believes that TCR's complex will help to bring more businesses into the area, which would help to expand West Hempstead's business district.
"The increase in pedestrian traffic would help the retail businesses, which are within walking distance from the complex and encourage other businesses to look into the area," Norton said. "This type of development will produce the highest tax benefits ... and transform the area into a safe, attractive landscaped corridor leading into our community."
TCR believes the Alexan at West Hempstead Station will appeal to young professionals who would use the nearby West Hempstead Long Island Rail Road station to commute to New York City. Representatives of the firm also said the apartments will "attract local empty nesters and baby boomers who are down-sizing from larger single-family homes, and who want to remain in the area to be near family and friends."
"Trammell Crow Residential builds these types of luxury apartments across the country," Rigopoulos said. "We believe we know what renters want when they are looking for a place to live."
Representatives of TCR also told town officials on Dec. 11 that the apartment complex will attract renters-by-choice, who they said, are people "who choose to rent because it accommodates their lifestyle."
"Renters- by-choice are people who could be working, going to school at night and really those individuals who are too busy to maintain a house," Rigopoulos explained. "It's a growing trend in the real-estate market where people want to live in a nice apartment and have many of the services they need provided for them."
Longtime West Hempstead resident Karen Crowley told the town board that she believes the complex will be highly successful in West Hempstead. Crowley, who lives in the hamlet with her husband and two children, lived in a similar apartment complex when she resided in Chicago. Her experience is one that, she said, also enables her to have confidence in TCR's proposed plan for the Courtesy site.
"I was that young working professional who didn't want to commit to buying a house and who wanted to pay to live in a rental luxury apartment," Crowley explained. "My roommates and I used the amenities on the premises ... and we walked around the area and spent money in the neighborhood that we lived in. Trammell Crow Residential's plan makes so much sense for our community."
TCR originally proposed to build 220 units, or 80 units per acre, on the 2.7 acre parcel of land that the Courtesy now stands on. However, the town's proposed Urban Renewal Plan (URP) deemed that number as "too dense" for the area, and town officials believe that TCR's density will set a regrettable precedent in the township. The URP requires that developers build no more than 45 units per acre on the Courtesy site.
In response to the town's need for a lower density, TCR scaled back its original proposal to 176 units, which breaks down to 65 units per acre.
"We reduced our density by 20 percent," Rigopoulos said. "We took a floor off of the building and now the building has one level of underground garage parking."
Since March of 2006, TCR has been in contract to purchase the Courtesy from its owner, Bruce Zwelsky. The firm has filed a rezoning petition in the Town of Hempstead, which requests that town officials allow the Courtesy property to be rezoned to a residential classification. It is currently under a business classification. TCR, Rigopoulos said, is also petitioning the town to approve its new transit-oriented development zoning code, with hopes that the code will allow the firm to build its 65 units per acre.
"The zoning code that we created says that this type of density would only be allowed on sites that are located adjacent to a train station," Rigopoulos said. "This code will allow the town to approve our project without saying that other communities in the township will propose projects with this density."
During her presentation, Rigopoulos also told the town board that TCR can keep the suburban character of West Hempstead with its proposed plan, and density should not be a reason to keep the firm from building its complex. Resident Nikki Stamatas Thaw shared similar thoughts by telling town officials that economic progress in West Hempstead "is more valuable than density."
Community organizations and residents in West Hempstead are now waiting to learn the fate of the Courtesy Hotel because town officials reserved its decision about the rezoning petition and the URP to a later, unspecified date.
"This whole issue has come down to West Hempstead residents essentially begging the town to approve this apartment building for our community," Crowley said. "Residents have been saying over and over again that this apartment complex is right for our community ... and it's truly disheartening to imagine that we won't move forward with Trammell Crow Residential's plan."
