Village approves apartment project for final review

A proposal for construction of a new apartment complex on West Merrick Road is slated for final site development plan review by the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals. The resolution passed by the board of trustees Aug. 16 amended the zoning map, turning a parcel of land in a previously residential and commercial district, known as a C-2 district, into a C-A district, or floating zone.
For the uninitiated in the world of zoning, zoning areas tell developers what can and cannot be built in certain places, but a floating zone change expands the realm of options for specific projects. In this case, it allows a higher-density apartment project sandwiched between a commercial and residential area.
If the plan is approved, and no further modifications are made to it by either the zoning board or the Nassau County Planning Commission, village residents may soon see a new multi-family apartment complex spring up at 360A and 362 West Merrick Road. The sleek, five-story apartment building, named the Promenade 360, would have 36 units, with four studios and a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.
“It’s going to be new, high-end apartment building on Merrick Road in a part of the village we’d like to see revitalized,” Trustee Vincent Grasso said.
The project developer, Kay Development LLC, also provided a community benefit of $150,000 in the form of “in-kind work on specific village projects” as part of its agreement, as confirmed by Thomas McAleer, director of the Economic Development Committee in Valley Stream.

“That money is going to be used for specific village projects,” McAleer said, “. . . but we don’t know which ones. There are a variety of them that the money could be used for, but the money will go to benefit the community.”
Village residents have recently seen a number of housing projects built throughout the village, with still others under consideration. “In the last 10 years, we approved about 200 rental units of new development, and my current understanding is that they’re rented or at least fully rented,” Grasso said. “There is certainly a need, and that is exactly what we are responding to.”
“The housing demand throughout Nassau County and in our community is incredibly high,” said McAleer, who contends that the “affordability issue” of housing in Valley Stream can be traced to supply and demand. 
“There is a very high demand and a very low supply,” McAleer said. “Our single-family and multi-family housing stock have risen in value and in price, and when you supply more to meet the demand, you start to create affordable options.”
According to McAleer, “Accommodating residents at different stages and preferences for the housing they’re looking for is part of the vision of the village and our department.”
“The village does not have a master plan,” McAleer said. Instead, village officials seek out projects from the “development community,” or as in the case with the current project under consideration, lets any developer step forward with a proposal to submit to the board for consideration.