Nassau County, Town of North Hempstead and Great Neck village officials gathered Thursday to witness the ground breaking of developer Hooshang Nematzadeh’s mixed-use property at 5-9 Grace Ave in the Village of Great Neck Plaza.
“This is an historic day for our company as we undertake this project,” said Nematzadeh, president of Nemat Homes Inc. and a Village of Kings Point trustee. “[The building] will be a great addition to the village.”
The project, approved by Plaza trustees in December 2013, is the first building of its kind to fall within the village’s “Business B” zoning district, which allows residential units to be constructed atop storefronts and offices.
Nematzadeh said the Plaza is a “pioneer” in transit-oriented zoning, which is intended to attract people to live downtown through housing near transit centers such as the Long Island Railroad Station in Great Neck.
“As we all know there’s a trend in the country to bring populations back to downtowns,” Nematzadeh said.
Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender and trustees Ted Rosen, Larry Katz, Pam Marksheid and Gerry Schneiderman were all present at Monday’s groundbreaking, as were Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Lee Seeman and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos.
“It’s unfortunate it took so long to get going,” Celender said. “I hope we have many more to follow.”
The 42,000 square-foot building will be four stories high with the top three being for residential use, and will cost about $12 million to construct. It will include two storefronts or corporate offices on the ground level and about 30 apartments on the top floors.
In November, the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency approved various tax breaks to assist in the financing of the project.
The tax breaks freeze taxes of the property for the first five years at their current level, with a 1.6 percent increase in the next five years, and 2.6 percent in the final five years, said Chris Coschignano, the counsel to developer Hooshang Nematzadeh, in November.
“Without the IDA benefits this project and projects of this type would not be possible,” Nematzadeh said.
Residents have complained that tax breaks should only be allowed in cases where someone wants to build in under-developed areas, and that Grace Avenue is not an underdeveloped area.
