Condo Development on W. Broadway May Face Legal Challenge

The redevelopment of a rundown two-story apartment building on West Broadway into a five-story, 18-unit condominium may face legal challenge by residents of the 600 block of West Penn Street, a neighborhood in Long Beach's historic Red Brick District.  

Residents Naomi Feller and Susan Slack intend to file a suit against the city in State Supreme Court in Mineola, claiming that the Zoning Board of Appeals' approval of the project in July was arbitrary. Developer David Shokrian plans to build the 60-foot building on the site of the existing apartments at 661 W. Broadway, a property he owns, starting next summer, but residents contend that the condos will block more sunlight and ocean breezes that are already obstructed by the neighboring Grandell Rehabilitation & Nursing home, at 645 W. Broadway, according to the Long Beach Herald. Feller said:  

“This proposal will perpetuate the nearly block-long brick wall of the Grandell, eliminating [the] sky and open space. Why weren’t the interests of the community put ahead of the interests of the developer? Diminished property values, a lack of light and air, and reduced parking are our future.”
Shokrian, who developed the Riverside Beach and White Sands condominiums in Long Beach, promised that the proposed building will not be an extension of Grandell, and that the zoning board twice denied his proposal because it exceeded the height limit and failed to meet the city’s requirements of 25 off-street parking spaces.

At a West End Neighbors Civic Association meeting in June, Feller and Slack informed residents of the project and asked them to sign a petition opposing the project as proposed. They said that 300 residents have since signed the petition. “We’re asking him just to comply with the zoning,” said Feller, who noted that the new proposal offers just 20 parking spaces.

Sean and Jesse Lufkin, who have lived at 661 W. Broadway for the past two years, told Patch on Thursday that they only learned about the project when Jesse noticed a mention of it on a Long Beach real estate website in June. The couple claims that the building, where they pay $900 rent each month, is deteriorating because few or no improvements or repairs have been made to the building. They said their ceiling leaks when it rains and mold and mildew pervade their bathroom.

“They know everyone here knows that they are getting rid of this building and they’re not putting any money into it,” Sean said.

The apartment building was the site of a citywide narcotics raid in October 2009, when nine men were arrested in Long Beach and Island Park by the Long Beach Police Department and Nassau County District Attorney’s office, according to the LBPD.