Former Huntington Elks Lodge building eyed for apartments, retail
A rendering of proposed mixed-use building at the former Huntington Elks Lodge property on Main Street in Huntington. Credit: Hoffman Grayson Architects LLP
A local developer wants to transform the former Huntington Elks Lodge building on Main Street into a mixed-use building with 14 rental apartments on two floors and retail or office space on the ground level.
Huntington-based development company Frank Viteritti, Gibson and Main LLC will need approval from the town’s zoning board of appeals to add a third floor to the two-story building at 195 Main St. The building was used as a catering hall and restaurant.
“The current building is old and outdated,” Viteritti said. “Our use will be so much quieter and less intrusive to our neighbors than the restaurant and catering hall was.”
The development company purchased the building in November. The building is in the general business district.
The existing footprint of the building will remain the same. There will be five one-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units on both the second and third floors. Two of the apartments in the building will be affordable, said Thomas A. Abbate, the attorney representing the developer.
Rental prices for the affordable units are based on federal Housing and Urban Development calculations, town officials said.
The proposed project needs 63 parking spaces. Currently, the property provides 39 spaces so the developer will need a zoning board appeal variance for additional parking spaces and other parking-related relief.
According to the planning memo, the town planning board has recommended several conditions. Those include that the parking area associated with the apartments be restricted either with a gate or signage indicating violators will be towed. Recommended conditions also prohibit a restaurant or catering hall on the property.
Abbate said there is a small section of town property that abuts a municipal parking lot that can only be accessed from the Elks property.
On the recommendation of the planning board, the developer is going to ask the town to purchase the parcel to use for parking, Abbate said.
“The first consideration will be whether or not the town can use that parcel for its own public parking,” Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said regarding the sale of the parcel.
The zoning appeals board hearing on the application scheduled for Sept. 21 has been adjourned so that a required parking study can be submitted, said John Bennett, Town Attorney for the zoning board of appeals.
Abbate said a parking study had previously been filed with the town and questioned the timing of the adjournment, saying this was the second public hearing the town had scheduled on the matter.
A flyer from a group called Citizens for a Sustainable Huntington, whose members are not identified, began circulating late last week urging people to attend the public hearing. The flyer says, if approved, the building would cause traffic and parking problems.
Abbate said the developer is happy to meet with nearby residents.
A local developer wants to transform the former Huntington Elks Lodge building on Main Street into a mixed-use building with 14 rental apartments on two floors and retail or office space on the ground level.
Huntington-based development company Frank Viteritti, Gibson and Main LLC will need approval from the town’s zoning board of appeals to add a third floor to the two-story building at 195 Main St. The building was used as a catering hall and restaurant.
“The current building is old and outdated,” Viteritti said. “Our use will be so much quieter and less intrusive to our neighbors than the restaurant and catering hall was.”
The development company purchased the building in November. The building is in the general business district.
The existing footprint of the building will remain the same. There will be five one-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units on both the second and third floors. Two of the apartments in the building will be affordable, said Thomas A. Abbate, the attorney representing the developer.
Rental prices for the affordable units are based on federal Housing and Urban Development calculations, town officials said.
The proposed project needs 63 parking spaces. Currently, the property provides 39 spaces so the developer will need a zoning board appeal variance for additional parking spaces and other parking-related relief.
According to the planning memo, the town planning board has recommended several conditions. Those include that the parking area associated with the apartments be restricted either with a gate or signage indicating violators will be towed. Recommended conditions also prohibit a restaurant or catering hall on the property.
Abbate said there is a small section of town property that abuts a municipal parking lot that can only be accessed from the Elks property.
On the recommendation of the planning board, the developer is going to ask the town to purchase the parcel to use for parking, Abbate said.
“The first consideration will be whether or not the town can use that parcel for its own public parking,” Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said regarding the sale of the parcel.
The zoning appeals board hearing on the application scheduled for Sept. 21 has been adjourned so that a required parking study can be submitted, said John Bennett, Town Attorney for the zoning board of appeals.
Abbate said a parking study had previously been filed with the town and questioned the timing of the adjournment, saying this was the second public hearing the town had scheduled on the matter.
A flyer from a group called Citizens for a Sustainable Huntington, whose members are not identified, began circulating late last week urging people to attend the public hearing. The flyer says, if approved, the building would cause traffic and parking problems.
Abbate said the developer is happy to meet with nearby residents.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
