Heritage Westminster apartment complex opens in West Hempstead
Heritage Westminster, a new 428-unit apartment complex at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Westminster Road in West Hempstead, is seen on July 24. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
A new apartment complex with more than 400 units in West Hempstead is now open to tenants, marking a major milestone for the largest new housing development on Long Island since 2019.
Heritage Westminster, built by Commack developer Heatherwood, takes the place of National Wholesale Liquidators' former flagship store, and local community groups said they hope hundreds of new residents will boost businesses along Hempstead Turnpike.
The conversion of a dilapidated retail property into new housing shows one way builders can create housing despite the scarcity of available land in Nassau County, where the median home price reached a record $890,000 in May, said Mike Florio, president of the trade group Long Island Builders Institute.
“That parcel of land sat in the middle of that community vacant for many years,” Florio said. “It’s a perfect example of the things we could do here on Long Island — revitalizing properties that no longer serve their purpose.”
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Heritage Westminster, a new 428-unit apartment building near the West Hempstead train station, has opened to tenants.
- It is the largest new apartment development on Long Island since 2019, according to CoStar.
- Local community groups said the new apartments will offer housing opportunities for downsizing homeowners, and customers for local businesses.
The building includes a 2-acre courtyard with a pool, barbecue grills and an outdoor fitness area. There also are pickleball courts, private cabanas and plans to add more amenities, including a golf simulator and a pet spa, later this year.
Heatherwood believes amenities and its hands-on approach to property management — the developer hasn’t sold any of its apartment complexes after construction — will make the complex stand out, said Christine Linsalato, vice president of development at Heatherwood.
The building has received strong interest from renters, with about 53% of its units already leased, she said.
There are 38 studios, 173 one-bedrooms, 153 two-bedrooms and 64 three-bedrooms. Rents ranged from $2,800 for a studio to $8,000 for the priciest three-bedroom townhouse.
There has been strong interest in Heritage’s larger units, including 10 three-bedroom rental townhouses that are all leased, Linsalato said.
“The price of housing keeps going up — the down payments that are needed to get into a house, the taxes alone are through the roof,” Linsalato said. “For someone to be able to come in and rent something that’s like a house — it’s just a huge demand.”
The most common rental price in the building is about $3,450 for a one-bedroom unit. Units ranged from 600 to more than 2,400 square feet.
That is slightly above the average asking price of $3,266 across all apartments in Nassau County as of July 24, according to property data provider CoStar. A low 3.9% vacancy rate has pushed up rents in the county, and the significant amenities at Heritage help to attract renters, said Jared Koeck, associate director of market analytics at CoStar.
“Premium product gets premium pricing,” he said.
‘Opportunity to downsize’
The project received support from community groups including the West Hempstead Civic Association. Maureen Mahoney, the group's president, said she appreciates that Heatherwood cleaned up the site and is creating housing options for homeowners looking to downsize and young families who are struggling to save for a down payment.
“It’s going to give the opportunity for the older community to downsize and possibly stay within the community to be able to go to their houses of worship and to stay in their shopping centers that they’re used to," she said.
Heritage Westminster is the largest new Long Island apartment complex to open since Tritec’s Alston at Station Yards debuted in 2019 with 489 apartments in Ronkonkoma, according to CoStar.
When asked about the significance of the new apartments, Hempstead Town Supervisor John Ferretti noted community support for the project and said it broke ground before he took office.
“I wish them success and look forward to ensuring they remain good neighbors and a positive part of the local community,” he said in an emailed statement.
Heatherwood received tax benefits toward the project to help fund construction. The developer received a $6.6 million mortgage sales tax exemption and an $806,000 mortgage recording tax exemption from the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency.
Heatherwood and the IDA agreed to a 20-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement in which the developer will make nearly $42.7 million in payments, or an average of $2.1 million per year, with payments increasing over time. The previous property owner owed about $1 million annually in property taxes.
“The cost of building is so high that without an IDA, the deals do not pencil,” Linsalato said.
The new apartments are a welcome addition after years of residents asking the former property owner to fix broken sidewalks and a parking lot that some used as a dumping site for trash, said Regina Todd, president of the Cathedral Gardens Civic Association, which includes parts of Hempstead and West Hempstead.
She hopes Heritage, which includes 6,000 square feet of retail space, and its hundreds of tenants attract new stores and restaurants and support existing ones.
“It was just an eyesore,” said Todd, a Hempstead homeowner. “Now you walk by, it’s well lit, it’s well landscaped and it looks so inviting.”
Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.
