With little fanfare, the Mineola Village Board unanimously voted to give final approval to the Winston Manor project during its working session preceding last week’s business meeting.
“After fine tuning, we are at a point to recommend approval of construction of the Winston,” said village attorney John Spellman.
The village’s approvals allows Polimeni International to move ahead with a plan to build a seven-story structure with 275 units on Old Country Road on the block east of 3rd Street. The project also calls for Polimeni to build a five-story 36-unit condominium for senior citizens on the site.
“I am elated. It’s a pleasure to see a village that knows how to get something accomplished,” said Vincent Polimeni, chairman of Polimeni International. “This is a project that should be built and will be a major plus for the area.”
Polimeni had originally filed a plan to construct 285 condos in a nine-story building on the site.
The developer revised its plan after receiving objections from Garden City, which would have also had jurisdiction over the project under zoning regulations that allow Garden City to review sudivisions within 300 feet of its border. Under the zoning regulations, condominiums are considered subdivisions, but apartments are not.
The Nassau County planning commission had already given its imprimatur to the project, which represents the latest phase of Mineola’s downtown revitalization effort.
Polimeni said that considering the economic climate he was pleased with the outcome.
“Condos in this economy were not going to work. There’s a strong rental market right now and with the train station nearby, it’s a home run,” Polimeni said.
Prior to the vote at last week’s meeting, Spellman spelled out the stipulations Polimeni must meet to proceed, including construction of a parking garage on 3rd Street, and what Spellman called “an integral and material element” – the condominiums for senior citizens.
Polimeni is also obligated to contribute $3 million to the village, with one-third due upon receipt of the construction permit, one-third when the certificate of occupancy is issued and one-third after construction is completed.
Polimeni said he’s currently fielding bids from contractors for the four-story parking garage that he plans to build next spring.
Polimeni estimates that execution and approvals for construction plans on the Winston Manor and the senior condos will take a year before building permits are issued and construction can begin. He projects that construction will be completed on both structures in two years.
