Developer wants tax breaks for Floral Park apartment project at old Centennial Hall site

The developer building an apartment complex in Floral Park on the former site of Centennial Hall wants tax breaks from the Town of Hempstead's Industrial Development Agency.

Centennial Holdings LLC is planning a 24-unit building on the site of what had been a 3,669-square-foot structure. The demolition began Monday and is expected to take three to four weeks, according to village officials. 

The Hewlett-based developer listed construction cost, interest rates and the uncertainty of property tax rates in Nassau County as reasons for IDA assistance.

The developer's IDA application seeks sales tax benefits of $517,500, a $70,500 exemption on the mortgage recording tax and a 20-year PILOT — Payment In Lieu of Taxes — agreement.

The new building will feature 12 two-bedroom units and 12 one-bedroom units , the IDA application says. Records show Guy Friedman is the principal of Centennial Holdings LLC.

The property is close to the village’s downtown and its Long Island Rail Road station. In 2019, the village sold the property to the developer for $1.2 million, Newsday previously reported. The new $12 million development will be 30,512 square feet.

“It’s providing rental housing options that are needed and it’s near the train station, which takes advantage of transportation assets of the village,” the developer’s attorney, Daniel Deegan, said about the project. “It’s renovating what’s historically been a less than aesthetically pleasing sight.”

Centennial Hall was a four-columned Greek Revival building built in 1925 that was used primarily as a Masonic Temple.

In 2004, Floral Park Lodge No. 1016 Free and Accepted Masons sold the building to the village for $1.5 million. The village used Centennial Hall to house the Floral Park Historical Society from 2005 to 2015.

The village tried to lease or repurpose the building, but was unsuccessful and it stayed vacant and fell into disrepair.   

Deegan said he is hoping to present the application to the IDA board next month.

Frederick Parola, executive director of Hempstead's IDA, said the application process could be completed by the end of September.

“It’s a nice, small 24 units of housing,” he added. “It’s by the railroad station, which is what we look for … It’s a smart growth project.”

The developer is planning to start construction this fall and anticipates it will take about 18 months.