Property on Jane Street, a byway adjacent to Roslyn Road near the Long Island Expressway, will be an eyesore no more.
The Blumenfeld Development Group (BDG) of Syosset and its partner the Hampshire Companies of Morristown, NJ have finished construction of the self-storage facility at 71 Jane St., declaring it open for business.
“The property, which sat dormant and was an eyesore since 2013, encompasses 98,000 sq. ft. and houses over 650 units on four floors within a secure landscape and enhanced by architectural elements such as buffers,” a spokesman for BDG said. “The building features a brick and glass exterior located at the end of Jane Street, adjacent to Roslyn Road, north of the Long Island Expressway and just twenty miles from New York City.”
The property will be operated by Extra Space Storage, which is the second largest operator of self-storage facilities in the U.S.
“Now that we see this beautiful transformation of a site that was an unused, blighted eyesore, we are so happy to bring the community a first class, climate controlled, convenient and safe commercial property that addresses a much-needed solution to storage needs,” said Brad Blumenfeld, vice president, BDG. “The location allows for excellent access for the Tri-state area population through its close proximity to major highways just off Roslyn Road near Roslyn High School.”
In addition to BDG and Hampshire Companies acting as developers, Bespoke Construction served as the project’s general contractor.
First constructed in 1949, the site has been vacant since 2013. Previous tenants include The Tiffen Company, which manufactured lens and filter accessories for the entertainment industry, Darmant Industrial, whose products included maintenance chemicals and industrial lubricants and GM Equipment Industries.
The current site plan was approved in 2019. At the time, Blumenthal said that the project would “turn a negative into a positive,” while having no real impact on local residents. “It has been a blighted building with broken windows,” Blumenfeld told the media. “We are going to make it safer and clean.”
By 2019, the property was deemed to be a brownfield site by state officials, a definition of which is an empty property possibly containing hazardous substances.
And so, the property was accepted by the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program for further review. An extensive study of the property was conducted by personnel with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). That study found that there were containments on the site in the form of chlorinated solvents and semi-volatile organic compounds in the soil and air.
At its Dec. 17, 2019 meeting, the North Hempstead Town Board approved construction for the Jane Steet property, calling for that same four-story 98,000-sq.-ft. facility.
“I think the fact [is] that that property can be and will be developed,” said Councilman Angelo Ferrara at the 2019 meeting. “The proposal is to put something in there that’s less intrusive than any other business that they can put in as of right.”
And so, local residents who need space to store excess belongings have a new place to go.
