The Roslyn Board of Trustees heard a special presentation Tuesday night from a Roslyn resident interested in renovating a local shopping center into a mixed-use building with dozens of rental apartments.
Jerry Karlik of Roslyn said he came to the meeting with permission of the current owners of 281 through 301 Warner Ave., a retail development across from the Roslyn Long Island Rail Road station.
“The consensus is the highest and best use for the [Warner Avenue] site is a mixed-use development consisting of residential apartments over retail and parking,” Karlik said. “Other uses like standalone retail, traditional offices and medical offices do not make any economic sense at this location.”
Kralik’s proposal is for approximately 60 one- and two-bedroom apartments on three floors above one 13,000-square-foot floor of retail space, and it would occupy “basically the same footprint that exists there today,” he said.
Kralik said many villages, such as Great Neck, Mineola and Port Washington, have had success with revitalizing downtown areas by developing transit-oriented developments near train stations, attracting both young adults looking for a short commute to New York City and empty nesters looking to downsize.
“There have been initiatives across the country and Long Island to develop housing near transportation,” Kralik said. “This helps to revitalize downtown areas by repurposing outdated, underutilized, and in many cases, vacant property, attracting young people as well as empty nesters by offering affordable alternatives in an increasingly expensive area.”
Kralik said expected rent for the apartments would be $2,500 for a one-bedroom apartment and $4,300 for a two-bedroom.
Deputy Mayor Marshall Bernstein said he was especially concerned with the parking, and Kralik said the site would house approximately 104 parking spaces both at ground level and underground.
“It would not go over well with commuters if a large influx of new people started parking there,” Bernstein said. “It’d be quite important to have adequate parking on site for these people.”
Trustee Craig Westergard said he is concerned about Roslyn maintaining it’s quaint, historic appearance and atmosphere, and cited the Chalet Luxury Apartments located next to the retail center as one of the worst developments in the village.
“I understand what you’re saying, but there’s a lot of this development going on around Long Island and it’s accommodating young people, and we need that, but we have to look at it from the standpoint of what we do here, and that’s preserve this historic quality,” Westergard said.
Trustee Sarah Oral, however, said she disagreed with the notion that to maintain the historic feel of the village, new development was unnecessary.
“If historic means 1940 brick construction, then yes,” Oral said. “The beautiful, historic sections of the village are the parts people envision as Roslyn. Nobody thinks of Bo Bo Kitchen as part of the village. I think that having some kind of defining feature near the railroad would make Roslyn a destination in and of itself.”
Village Attorney John Gibbons said a zoning change for the building would have to be approved before any further action could be taken, and Mayor John Durkin said he expected the potential traffic flow with no traffic light near the retail center would be a concern for the village.
“I think what we’d have to look at is traffic-wise, can we handle the intensity,” Durkin said. “It is a run-down kind of area and could use some revitalization, but we have to be careful of it being overrun by more and more development. We have to be careful how we do it.”
That part of Roslyn Village is not “Quaint or historic”. Almost anything built there would be an improvement.
As a young homeowner living in the village of Roslyn, I came to live here with the notion that while development might be necessary for certain buildings over time, the fact of the matter is that we now are now dealing with development running amuck. For instance, Roslyn Landing; a grotesque amalgamation of lowly and uninspired architecture in the center of town; that spoils the village view while driving over the viaduct. Lumber Road has vastly changed the landscape of Roslyn Village albeit with nicer architectural living arrangements. There is also plans for Skillman St development that backs Roslyn Landing. While not in Roslyn Village proper, but just a short walk from the village, RXR just bough Engineers Golf Club and is planning on building townhouses on the property.
Secondly, we also have a gaping blacktopped “parking area” where Old Northern Boulevard meets East Broadway seemingly used for overflow of restaurant parking often. Not to mention historic buildings like the Poco Loco building which is crumbling apart (not village owned); the Gristmill which, if fixed will probably turn into a museum instead of something functional, Gerry Park which is slowly becoming a pond and other acute issues.
I love this town I live in and am merely hoping that we preserve the notion of it’s greenery while still pushing the town forward in the years to come in both quality of living and generating funds to make that happen.
Putting apartments on Warner Ave has nothing to do with preserving a quaint or historic notion of a town but it would set a tone of welcome more development that would slowly turn into suburban sprawl.
I agree regarding Roslyn Landing. However, the gaping parking lot at East Broadway and Old Northern you are complaining about is a result of people in the village trying to stop development. This site was the location of the old Village Service Station. Redevelopment of this site was made so difficult by the village in the early 1990’s that it still sits vacant. This property and Poco Loco lie within the Roslyn Village Historic District which imposes limits on new construction. I am pretty sure that the subject property in this article is within the district. I would also be surprised if Roslyn Landing is in the historic district. And the gristmill has been that way for the past 40 years or more.
I don’t see anyone paying $4,300 for a two bedroom even if it is close to the railroad. They can rent an apartment in Manhattan for much less. They would have to buy a car to get around which is another large expense. Great Neck is walking distance to anything one needs so the compatibility is moot. The only offering on Warner is the Chalet and a 7-11. The overdeveloping is already grossly overwhelming, between the development under the viaduct and The other on Bryant and both of those developments are not fully occupied. I see the quaintness shrinking and it’s heart breaking. This will not end well, especially if the developers cannot rent the units and they make a deal with the State.