Hempstead IDA approves incentives for revitalization of village apartment complex under new ownership

Hempstead, NY Fred Parola, chief executive of the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency (IDA), has granted final approval to a modified package of economic development incentives to a Hempstead Village developer who has taken over a downtown rental apartment project and now plans to expand the proposed complex.

With the meeting on Mar. 24, the IDA approved Rashid Walker’s acquisition of a project known as Main Street Hempstead Apartments LLC. The project has not yet been built.

The complex is to be constructed on 1.69 acres at 257 Main St., where a company that Walker was formerly affiliated with had proposed the building. The 246-apartment project, received preliminary IDA approval nearly a year ago. 

Prior to the approval of the latest benefits package, the development team, which included Walker and a Charlotte, NC company, closed on the current incentive package in December 2011 when the project was planned with 173 apartments. The new incentives will add 25 years to the four years that have elapsed under the former IDA pact.

The $123 million project proposed by Walker, a longtime Hempstead resident, includes 6,114 s/f of ground-level retail space and a 109,975 s/f parking garage. Ten percent of the apartments will be set aside as “attainable housing” in accordance with the village’s zoning code. In 2021, the estimated cost of the project was $77.7 million.

“We’re optimistic that Mr. Walker can again move this project forward as part of the revitalization of Hempstead,” said Fred Parola, IDA CEO. “Upon completion, it will provide much-needed rental housing for residents of the Village and the Town.

Walker, a member of the Hempstead Village Planning Board, began working on the project in 2015 with a former employer and subsequently with other partners. He bought out the current LLC from his most recent partner.

Walker said construction, which would take about 30 months, would begin in July.

The project, which had previously received IDA incentives, is expected to create 100 construction jobs and five full-time permanent positions.