555 Stewart Avenue Developer Delays Townhouse Project

The owner of 555 Stewart Avenue, a longtime vacant parking lot now overgrown with weeds at the village's most eastern gateway, has delayed his own project.

In September 2008, Garden City granted final site plan approval to construct 25 townhouses on the property. The project, however, came to an abrupt halt when the economy took a dive.

In February of this year, trustee Nick Episcopia reported movement at the site as construction documents were being drafted. Filippon further noted that architects were revising drawings and making upgrades.

Now developers have opted to enlarge the living rooms of the end units by approximately two feet and must now go through another round of architectural review and site plan approval.

"The townhouses ... were all set to proceed when the developer, after speaking to some of his advisors, decided to enlarge the living rooms," building superintendent Michael Filippon told village trustees. "In order to do that he has to come back for both site plan approval and ADRB approval. You're going to be seeing that in the next round of meetings."

A clubhouse and pool, along with the 25 townhouses, are expected to complete the residential complex.