The Great Neck Episcopal Mission is seeking to develop property it owns into apartments and presented an informal proposal before the Great Neck Plaza Board of Trustees at the board’s May 15 meeting.
Reverend Joseph Pae, speaking on behalf of the Great Neck Episcopal Mission, a collaborative ministry representing St. Paul’s, St. Joseph’s and All Saints congregations, said that the vision of this redevelopment was “to preserve the historic building of St.Paul’s and its presence and ministry in its current location.”
“The church, which is a landmark, needs a lot of restoration work. The parish house and the rectory are in very poor condition and currently are not being used at all,” said Andrew Levenbaum, whose Huntington-based architecture firm is designing the project.
The plan was proposed so that St. Paul’s “can have income that will sustain the existing parish and provide for the mission, be able to maintain the existing church, and provide enough income to build the parish house,” Levenbaum said. Levenbaum said that if the mission were to eliminate the rectory and parish house, it could fit 15 apartments on the site, but to generate the necessary income they would need to build an apartment house of 30 units on the remaining site.
Levenbaum said variances would be needed to permit the extra space needed to build the 30 apartments. Architect Kathleen Dunn-Raynoha said that it would require 28,000 square feet including 48 parking spaces.
St. Paul’s owns the two adjacent plots of land. The western plot contains the church, and the larger eastern plot contains the parish house and the rectory, the proposed area of redevelopment.
Levenbaum said the redeveloped section would be owned by a separate company that is 51 percent owned by the church and 49 percent owned by the developer who operates the houses. Levenbaum said that at this stage of the project they have some leads, but no definite developers.
Levenbaum said that although they might be able to come down from 30 apartments, “in order to maintain the mission that Rev. Pae wants to do, money is required. At 15 units as of right it just doesn’t do it.”
“We know we’re asking for a number of variances but we have no choice, because we would like to see the mission continue in that location,” he added.
Commissioner of Public Services Mike Sweeney brought up an alternative that had been previously discussed in front of the board: selling the property.
Levenbaum said that the diocese doesn’t want to sell off the piece of property.
Whenever you give someone “a big slug of money it just disappears,” he said.
“Will that money go to restore the church? Yes, but they want a continuous flow of income,” Levenbaum said.
Board members briefly discussed the aesthetics of the design, and Levenbaum said the mission would be receptive to any changes proposed by the village. ’
Trustee Gerald Schneiderman then said the board would “like to see the church stay and the parish house to generate programs for the community.”
“We have to think about what kind of project should be going there and what size, and then give you some sort of direction from there,” he said.
