Hurricane Delays West 130 Opening

Written by Rich Forestano Friday, 30 November 2012 00:00

Storm issues push apartment complex unveiling to December

The deteriorating façade is a distant memory; it’s criminal aura ancient history. The blight it cast on West Hempstead is gone and has been replaced by a new, much needed updated structure. It was scheduled to breathe life into the area in October, but Mother Nature had other plans.

The opening of West 130, an apartment complex that now occupies the former space of the infamous Courtesy Hotel, has been delayed due the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The dwelling was supposed to open in October.

The former hotel that was a sight of criminal activity and structural ineptitude shuttered its doors on Jan. 10, 2011. Mill Creek Residential Trust purchased the property one month later.

Mill Creek representatives have set a move-in date for some time in December. West 130 Senior Leasing Consultant Anthony Williams noted no structural hiccups because of Sandy’s Wrath.

“We’re still scheduled to open sometime in December,” Williams said.

The project was able to move forward because the town created a “Transit Oriented Development” zone in late 2008 that allowed for greater density in the area. The Long Island Rail Road’s promise to keep vacant its 1-acre site between the hotel and the train station also gave the project the space it needed.

The property, located at 130 Hempstead Avenue, sits a stones throw from the West Hempstead line of the LIRR. The station saw weekend service cut in 2010.

Whether or not Friday through Sunday service will be restored remains to be seen. The MTA did not return calls for comment.

“I think [the complex] was without electricity for a while, but not long,” West Hempstead Community Support Association President Rosalie Norton said.

Norton has been at the forefront of every development, from the initial plan to rid West Hempstead of the hotel, to its demolition last year.

“As far as the delayed opening, like everything else if you go to buy a house or anything that you’re closing on that’s of a large, substantial purchase, they’ll give you a target date,” Norton said. “[Mill Creek] hoped it would be some time in November…I always said it would be some time at the end of November, middle of December.”

The building features one, two and three-bedroom floor plans, on-site leasing, management, and maintenance, clubhouse lounges with fireplaces and flat screen HDTVs.

The building’s design consists of a combination of masonry and siding facades, decorative panels and railings, large windows, balconies and gabled asphalt shingle roofs. The sidewalks encompassing the area will receive new lighting and landscaping.

The complex showcases 5,000 square feet of amenity and administrative space. West 130 will include a cyber-café and catering kitchen as well as a fitness center and resort-style swimming pool with a sundeck.

In terms of the floor-plan amenities for individual dwellings, they will include, but are not limited, to full-size washers and dryers, walk-in closets, 9-foot ceilings, wall-to-wall carpeting and individual central heating and air conditioning.