Construction on the second and final phase of the Ritz Carlton Residences will begin in two weeks, said Frank Haftel, the vice president for development and asset management at RXR Realty, which has overseen the work.
“We’re ready to begin placing the foundations,” Haftel said. “We’re very excited.”
The second phase of construction will span two years, adding two five-story buildings and 120 units to the luxury condominium complex on the Long Island Expressway’s South Service Road.
The complex currently consists of 124 condominiums in two residential buildings as well as a clubhouse that features a swimming pool, exercise room and movie theater, among other amenities. Over 90 percent of the completed condominiums have been sold, though only approximately half of those purchasers have moved in, Haftel said.
RXR will begin putting the phase 2 condominiums on the market as soon as construction begins.
They range from two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom apartments for $1,350,000 to three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom apartments for $4,900,000.
Haftel said RXR has taken every precaution to minimize construction noise for the complex’s current residents, though he acknowledged, “the first three to four months will be noisier than the rest.”
At a North Hills Board of Trustees meeting in June, during which RXR received final approval to go forward with phase 2 of construction, village residents expressed concern over increased traffic congestion caused by the development.
Before the meeting, RXR installed a traffic light at the Ritz-Carlton’s New Hyde Park Road entrance, as the village required it to do.
Haftel said he has not heard any further complaints about the traffic and doesn’t expect it will be a problem going forward.
“We’re going to stage parking areas for workers within our site,” he said.
The hotelier manages the condos in a partnership with RXR, which purchased the North Hills property and has worked to develop it since 2007.
The firm split the project into two phases in 2013, after the 2008 financial crash led to long delays and a major redesign.
Emily Bock, sales and marketing manager at the Ritz Carlton Residences, said a community has started to form at the complex.
“We just had a Halloween party throughout the top floor of the clubhouse,” she said. “We had a haunted house and a spooky movie in the theater.”
She said the complex’s facilities will not have a problem accommodating the residents who eventually move into phase 2 condominiums.
“Everything is suited for the 244 residents for whom [the complex] was originally planned.”
