More Apartments Coming to New Hyde Park?

Nassau County is losing many of its young people not only because real estate prices are high but also because in several areas, like New Hyde Park, there aren’t a lot of alternatives between buying a house and living on your parent’s pull out.

In the , there are approximately 171 apartments between an apartment complex near , a small complex on Lakeville Road past the and apartments over some of the stores on Jericho Turnpike, according to Village Trustee Lawrence Montreuil.

The Village passed a law a few years ago that changed the allowable uses for commercial properties so there will be fewer multiple uses, which means next to no additional apartments along Jericho Turnpike. With almost no other vacant areas where an apartment complex could logically be built, New Hyde Park 20-somethings who want to get out of their parents’ house but can’t afford a home of their own will have to wait for existing apartments to become vacant.

Montreuil noted the only place he could conceive of putting an apartment complex would be in the spot of one of the industrial buildings along the Long Island Rail Road. If one of these buildings’ tenants wanted to change what their building was used for, Montreuil said an apartment complex would “blend well” in this area and “could be a worthy project” depending its specifics.

For 20-somethings who might be getting excited about this potential new complex that could save you from living with your parents, don’t get your hopes up just yet.

“The likelihood that one of the commercial buildings along the railroad tracks to be converted into residential housing is largely dependent on the owners of the buildings and what they feel would bring the highest return on their investments,” Montreuil said.

Those properties are also in a commercial zone and changing their use to residential would require coming to the Village zoning board and having a public hearing, Montreuil said.

“A project like this could come along at any time,” Montreuil said, adding, “I haven’t heard of anything like this in the pipeline.”

One consideration that would need to be taken into account if such a project were to come online would be whether it’s worth losing the potential tax revenue from a commercial building. Assemblyman Tom McKevitt noted that commercial properties pay about four times as much in taxes as residential ones.