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HERALD COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS — July 2, 2020 Courtesy Vassilios Kefalas
A rendering of the 17-unit luxury apartment building proposed for the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Cochran Place. The developer is seeking tax breaks from the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency, after the village zoning board approved the project over the protests of Nassau County planners.
Tax breaks proposed for Roosevelt Apts. continued from front page 15,000-square-foot project are estimated at roughly $3.4 million over the life of the agreement, according to a cost-benefit analysis submitted to the IDA. The same report indicates that, including construction, the project would generate nearly $7.5 million in economic activity during the 15-year agreement period, including more than $1 million in property-tax revenue. With a 15-year agreement, the proposal deviates from the IDA’s tax-break policy that was adopted in February, which calls for a 10-year schedule. In its public hearing notice, the agency said the project would need a longer schedule for it to be economically viable. The property is now a privately owned parking lot operated by Valley Streambased Valley Parking Inc., and the company is due to pay a total of $32,165 in general, school and village taxes for 2020, according to county and village tax rolls. Once the apartments are built, taxes on the property would be around $85,000 a year, according to the proposal abstract. It was unclear from the report, however, whether that figure includes the proposed tax breaks. In his application, real estate developer Vassilios Kefalas, who owns a 100 percent stake in Vantage, said construction would not move forward without an agreement, which could, he said, impact further developments in the neighborhood. Kefalas, operating through another real estate company, Kay Development LLC, of which he is the principal and founder, is also the owner and developer behind the 43-unit luxury mixed-use Promenade on Central Avenue, which opened earlier this year. The Roosevelt and Cochran proposal has gone through a number of iterations since it was first submitted in late 2018, coming before the Nassau County Planning Commission three times and the vil-
The Vantage on roosevelt: a timeline november 2018: Long Island City-based Kay Development LLC submits a proposal for an 18-unit luxury apartment complex at Roosevelt Avenue and Cochran Place to county and village planning agencies, seeking 10 variances, including for lot coverage, parking and density. november 2018: The Nassau County Planning Commission returns the proposal, requesting information about an affordable housing component required by the 2008 Workforce Housing Act. december 2018: Kay pulls its proposal from the village Board of Zoning Appeals, lage Board of Zoning Appeals twice. County planners repeatedly raised concerns about a lack of an affordable housing in the proposal as well as a density that is nearly double what is allowed in village code, and a shortfall in required parking, and expressed worry whether it complied with the 2008 Long Island Workforce Housing Act. Kefalas said he was not interested in building affordable housing; however, speaking before the village zoning board, William Florio, a facilitator for the project, said he would work out a fee structure with the village to go toward affordable housing initiatives elsewhere in the village and ensure the apartments complied with the Workforce Housing Act. School District 24 officials raised concerns about overcrowding in local schools because of the project. Residents, speaking before the zoning board, also blasted the proposal as potentially causing more traffic and dramatically altering the character of the surrounding neighborhood.
citing opposition from School District 24. June 2019: Kay returns with a nearly identical proposal. The county planning commission rejects it, citing a lack of affordable housing, which requires a supermajority vote by the village BZA to override the decision. July 2019: The village BZA also rejects the proposal, which fails to receive the required supermajority vote. September 2019: Kay returns again with a modified proposal, this time for 17 units instead of 18, and seven variances
instead of 10. County planners again question the proposal, citing a lack of affordable housing, and again return the proposal to the village, seeking more information. october 2019: The village BZA unanimously approves the modified proposal, citing the need for rental apartments in the neighborhood. June 2020: Kay principal and founder Vassilios Kefalas submits an application for tax breaks to the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency under the LLC The Vantage on Roosevelt.
Peter Belfiore/Herald
The properTy currenTly serves as a parking lot.