The Village of Great Neck trustees last week extended the deadline to receive offers for the purchase of the Steamboat Road municipal parking lot to April 14 after potential buyers showed interest in the property after the original deadline in late 2014.
“We had gone past the deadline and were still hearing interest from other parties,” village Clerk Joe Gill said. “That gave us an indication it may be worth more than we originally thought.”
Gil wouldn’t comment on how many proposals the village received for or how much the proposals were for, but did say the 300-square-foot property is zoned for residential properties under the new Middle Neck and Steamboat roads rezoning which went into effect in January. The rezoning was aimed to revitalize the village’s business district while adding more residential properties along parts of Middle Neck and Steamboat roads.
The village sent a bid for purchase proposals in August after they determined the lot was surplus property as a result of the rezoning of Middle Neck and Steamboat roads.
Steamboat Road, at the recommendation of VHB engineers, was rezoned to allow for a better transition between commercial and residential properties.
“There was no transition there before,” Gill said. “We wanted to have commercial properties, then townhouses then single-family residences.”
Middle Neck was rezoned to have a condensed commercial district between Hicks Lane and Arrandale Avenue to Baker Hill Road with residential properties at the northern and southern tips. Mixed-use buildings, with commercial properties on the first floor and residential on the second floor, are allowed on Middle Neck Road under the rezoning.
The rezoning had received mixed reviews from residents and developers in the village, with officials saying the maximum density of the townhouses on Steamboat Road should be increased.
The village will consider both a potential buyers price as well as what the buyer would plan to do with the property to decide which project would be in the best interest of village residents, village trustees said in a statement.
Gill said the lot is not used much anymore as many of the businesses in the area have closed.
