Estates board OKs Playhouse reductions

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

The Village of Great Neck Estates Board of Trustees unanimously approved plans to reduce the height of the First Playhouse building during Monday night’s public hearing.

Plans for the proposed five-story, mixed-use structure were approved by the Great Neck Estates board in January 2020, but modifications presented by project developer Albert Shirian of Lions Group NYC and attorney Paul Bloom of Harras Bloom & Archer LLP last month had the building decrease in size while expanding the number of bedrooms.

The fifth story of the project, which included a penthouse, will be removed under the revised plans and the number of bedrooms will be increased from 35 to 40, while maintaining the same 20 units previously approved. The total height of the building will be reduced by nearly nine feet with the removal of the fifth floor.

The square footage for the indi- vidual units is also reduced in the proposals, ranging from roughly 900 to 1,500 square feet. The overall shrinkage in square footage for the building would be roughly 7,000 square feet, officials said. This cutback would save $2.8 million, Shirian said, citing the increased cost of construction materials as to why the reductions were be- ing presented.

“The price of everything has gone through the roof, the price of construction is too high,” Shirian said in January. “We are not asking to add anything to this project, we are asking to reduce it and make the building smaller.”

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