Warehouse to fill Inwood site, vacant since 1987

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After years of vacancy, 175 Roger Ave. in Inwood is expected to be transformed into modern warehouse space of 60,000-square-feet by 2024.

Inwood 175, LLC and AJM Capital II, LLC have submitted a final engineering report for review by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, which states that cleanup requirements have been achieved to fully protect public health and the environment for the proposed site use. The property was designated as a brownfield site by the DEC and designated for cleanup. A brownfield site is a contaminated property.   

Vacant since 1987, the nearly 5-acre site was developed with a 155,000-square-foot one-story warehouse building built in three stages from 1954 through 1967. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, along with the state’s Department of Health, determined that the site posed a significant threat to public health after it was discovered that Rockaway Metal Products Inc., a sheet metal fabrication factory, which occupied the site from 1971 to 1987 disposed of hazardous products on-site and arsenic, lead and cadmium were found by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 1992.

“I’m happy, the previous building was there in disrepair for decades,” said David Hance, president of the Inwood Civic Association. “All things considered, it’s a net positive for the community. The spot became a dumping ground because it was a large, vacant property in disrepair. It was just a nuisance to the homeowners of the properties that surrounded the space.”

Action has been completed to address the contamination related to 175 Roger Ave. under the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program. Cleanup activities were performed by Inwood 175, LLC, and AJM Capital II, LLC with oversight provided by the DEC.

Nassau County’s Department of Real Estate had owned the land and building since 1995. The site was an eyesore for the community and in April 2017, the County Legislature approved borrowing  $2.1 million to demolish  the building. Inwood 175 LLC and AJM Capital II LLC bought the property from Nassau County in 2017.

The property is zoned for warehousing and has been approved for a new warehouse of 60,000 square feet. The developer does not have a client or a tenant for the space as of yet as it has yet to be built but the new building will be fully developed and landscaped as soon as the spring of 2024.

Nearby residents received a letter from the DEC saying that the property went through the remedial process and is now contamination free. The DEC will issue a certificate of completion addressing the completed cleanup. After this Inwood 175 LLC and AJM Capital II LLC will be able to redevelop the site and will be eligible for tax credits to offset a portion of the costs of performing cleanup activities and for the redevelopment of the site.

“Several people were happy that something is finally going to be happening with the space because the place, in its current state, is an eyesore,”  Hance said.