Downtown living in RVC?

The heart of downtown Rockville Centre may have apartments in the future.

Robert DiNoto and Paul Posillico, who own an empty building on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and Sunrise Highway, want to convert it into apartments and retail space. The building was occupied by a Radio Shack until it closed last year.

The owners plan to turn the first floor into a retail space, and the second and third floors into five or so apartments. “There’s not enough downtown apartments, multiple-family dwellings,” said William Bonesso, the attorney representing DiNoto and Posillico. “This provides truly transit-oriented development in the downtown area with close proximity — walking distance — to a train station. That’s the kind of development we need … Rockville Centre has a thriving downtown area, and having the apartments above retail places only makes sense.”

Plans were not finalized when DiNoto and Posillico appeared before the village Board of Zoning Appeals on Feb. 3. They originally planned to add two floors on parts of the building, and as many as 10 apartments. They dropped that plan when they could not find enough parking for prospective tenants.

“We recognize that parking is [at] a premium in the downtown area,” said Bonesso. “My clients have made significant efforts to secure additional parking for the building. They’ve tried to buy property, they’ve tried to rent property. They’ve got nowhere with that.”

Bonesso said that the pair were exploring alternatives, such as getting parking stickers for renters for village municipal lots.

Anthony Geraci, a co-owner of the restaurant Kasey’s, next door to the building, said he is open-minded about a retail space and apartments, but has concerns about parking and construction, as well as noise complaints from potential renters. “In all the years that we’ve been in business, we’ve never had any noise complaints at all,” he said. “Someone is going to live above this on restaurant row, and they might complain.”

Geraci said he was also concerned that summer construction work might interfere with his customers’ path to Kasey’s rooftop dining area. He also wondered where tenants would park, especially since the property is next to a very busy municipal lot.