By GREGORY ZELLER //
A much-needed transit-oriented rental development has pulled into Westbury slightly ahead of schedule.
Welcome to The Cornerstone Westbury, a modern luxury residential community boasting a short walk to the Long Island Rail Road’s Westbury station and a critical affordable-housing component.
Offering high ceilings, designer kitchens, rooftop patios, a modern fitness center and several other creature comforts, the development is slated for an Oct. 4 ribbon-cutting ceremony, hosted by Farmingdale-based developer Terwilliger & Bartone Properties and attended by a legion of local leaders.
But The Cornerstone Westbury’s new leasing website has been up and running since early August – and as of this week, eager residents are already moving in.
Anthony Bartone: Exciting times.
Phase I of the residential development features 72 units, including 18 designated as workforce housing. It’s projected by Terwilliger & Bartone to make significant contributions to the Village of Westbury’s tax base and the Westbury Union Free School District, with Phase II – adding an additional 58 units to the mix – targeting completion in 2024.
More than 1,200 applications were submitted for The Cornerstone Westbury’s first 18 workforce-housing units. The developers and the Village of Westbury collaborated with the Hauppauge-based Long Island Housing Partnership on an August lottery of qualified applicants.
The Cornerstone Westbury is the latest residential community built by Terwilliger & Bartone near Long Island mass-transit hubs or downtown centers. Other “Cornerstone” developments have already risen in Hauppauge, Farmingdale and Lynbrook, with 50 new transit-oriented luxury apartments coming soon to Kings Park.
While primarily targeting affluent clientele, the Class-A developments and their affordable-housing percentages provide a measure of welcome relief across Nassau and Suffolk counties, where longstanding housing-segregation issues persist and residential rentals of any kind are always at a premium.
As excited as residents are to move into The Cornerstone Westbury, “we are excited that residents are moving into the Cornerstone,” noted Terwilliger & Bartone Managing Partner Anthony Bartone, who credited the Village of Westbury’s focus on transit-oriented development as a forward-thinking socioeconomic win.
“Residents moving in will not only have access to transit, they will energize further the retail and commercial establishments in the area,” Bartone added. “All right in the heart of Westbury.”
