Residents Get Sneak Peek of Franklin Ave. Condo Proposal

Residents sat in on a preliminary conference before the village's Planning Commission this month for a proposed condominium complex slated for 301 Franklin Avenue.

Kevin Walsh, counsel for property owners EB301 Realty, LLC (Engel Burman Group), shared sketches of the proposed 450 foot long building, which would house 54 1,440 square foot, two-bedroom, three-bath units, along with a community room, fitness center and more. Units are expected to sell for $650,000 a piece, he said.

From a Franklin Avenue perspective, the building would run from Cedar Place/Fourth Street and end just south of Third Street.

"Hopefully at the end of this process, we are going to create a greater tax benefit to the village," Walsh said.

John Wilton said the Garden City Merchants, Professionals and Retailers group is an advocate. As group chair, he believes it will have "a vital impact not only on the tax base that the village desperately needs to increase but also on the vitality of our downtown marketplace."

The condos would complete development of the entire parcel at the Garden City-Hempstead border; 501 and 401 are fully leased, Walsh said.

Current village code permits another 100,000 square feet of office space at the site but Walsh said a combination of mixed uses on the entire parcel (501-401-301) would "lessen impacts" on traffic, citing studies that indicate 132 less trips with a mixed use building versus all office buildings during peak times.

Two parking spaces are required for each unit and one additional space for every four units, said building superintendent Mike Filippon. "The overall site has 1,052 spaces," Walsh said. "Based upon the zoning code and our analysis of it, we need to show 1,130 spaces."

EB301 Realty, LLC hopes to land bank 47 parking spaces against the Long Island Rail Road to accommodate any future needs. "We ask for permission to landscape it rather than create parking because we just don't need it. We'd rather keep green space," Walsh said. "The trade off is at any moment the village determines that is needed for parking ... that would be available."

Commission member Charles Koester, Jr. said there are more vacant spots than there are cars in that lot. "Land bank everything along Franklin Avenue if you don't need it and if you never need it, that's even better," he said.

The entrance to the facility is proposed at the southern end, directly across the street from Hamilton Place, though Walsh said his client is "open to changes."

In the Co-2 district, current code allows for a three-story or 40-foot office building or a two-and-a-half story or 35-foot multi-family unit. EB301 Realty, LLC is seeking a six-foot variance to erect a 41-foot building - "a full third story as opposed to a half-story," Walsh said. His client is currently working on building scale as some plans are still in the "infancy" stage.

Koester also wanted more details about lighting and how it would affect surrounding residential areas like Franklin Court. As a Franklin Court resident, Wilton spoke on behalf of his neighbors concerned about a possible lack of sunlight if the three-story building were erected at 41 feet. He also asked whether a noise suppression system would be incorporated to mitigate noise from the HVAC units on the roof.

Sketches have been forwarded to Eastern Property Owners' Association (EPOA) president Walter McKenna and Central Property Owners' Association (CPOA) president Gary Kahn. EB301 Realty, LLC will present its plans at the June 14 CPOA meeting at the senior center on Golf Club Lane (8 p.m.) and was hoping to do the same at the June 21 Architectural Design Review Board (ADRB) meeting. Filippon, however, said the project would not be on that meeting's agenda.

The project could take approximately 18 months. "We are trying to advance this project," Walsh said.