Lynbrook developer’s open house for Cornerstone complex on tap

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An open house where a developer will speak with community members about a proposed apartment complex and parking garage for downtown Lynbrook is scheduled for Oct. 22.

Anthony Bartone, of Farmingdale-based Terwilliger & Bartone Properties, will be available at the Elks Lodge, 57 Hempstead Ave. in Lynbrook, from 6 to 8 p.m. to meet with residents to answer their questions and address concerns.

The meeting will precede a public hearing, which is now scheduled for Nov. 19 at Village Hall during Mayor Alan Beach and the board of trustees’ meeting. The hearing had previously been postponed several times.

Earlier this month, Beach acknowledged that the project has received mixed reviews, but asked for residents to keep an open mind. “Let him present it,” he said of Bartone, “and let everybody have a good understanding about what actually is happening.”

The $75 million, 200-unit apartment complex, dubbed the Cornerstone at Lynbrook, would be built on the southwest corner of Earle Avenue and St. James Place, in the village’s downtown cultural arts district. In exchange for the board’s approval to build, Bartone said he would fund and construct a $10 million, 400-space parking garage at Broadway and Langdon Place.

The parking garage would be built first, on what is now Parking Field 3, a lot used mostly by Long Island Rail Road commuters. The apartments would be built on a two-acre parcel of land now occupied by Parking Field 8, used by employees of village businesses, and at 14 St. James Place, which is now a law office. According to Bartone, the parking garage would take six to eight months to complete, while construction of the apartments would take 18 months.

In August, Bartone said he knew there could be some opposition to the proposal. “We understand that with change comes anxiety,” Bartone said. “Ninety percent of Lynbrook we don’t want to change, but 10 percent needs to be strategically developed, and you need to do that in your downtowns.”