Hopes are high in the Village of Garden City that a facelift to Franklin Avenue, once known as "the Fifth Avenue of Long Island," will restore its former status. In order to bring back the Fifth Ave. image, the idea is to make Franklin Avenue, Garden City's main thoroughfare, look the part.

The Village has hired Bill Kuhl to work as the architectural consultant to design a new streetscape beautification project, and plans to invest approximately $1.5 million in the project, but many residents have argued at public meetings that without the landlords investing money in rehabilitating both the storefronts and the interiors of the buildings along the avenue, trees and bushes wouldn't make a significant difference. It is with this in mind that Renaissance Development LLC has proposed a facelift for 855 Franklin Avenue, the former A&S building. Renaissance Development believes that by improving the appearance of the building and redesigning the interior layout, new businesses will be interested in leasing space within.

Renaissance Development LLC does not own the building yet, but will be closing next month. Some might argue that they're "jumping the gun" by investing so much time, money, and effort, in designing plans for a building before they actually own it. Russell Matthews of the Albanese Development Corp., (half of the joint venture that forms Renaissance, the other half being Castagna Realty Company, owners of The Americana at Manhasset), does not agree. As he sat in the conference room in their suite at 1050 Franklin Avenue, surrounded by documents with their encouraging slogan "A Return to Main Street Shopping," blueprints, blown-up photos of the building, and computer generated photos of the proposed alterations, he explained to Garden City Life that in order to attract the "upscale" tenants for which Garden City is hoping, these would-be renters of Garden City real estate want to see that positive changes are in the works and not just talk.

Renaissance Development LLC has already presented its plans to the Architectural Design Review Board at its meeting on Tuesday, May 19 (after the Planning Commission adjourned their part of what had been a joint meeting of the two groups, as the proposed redevelopment plans do not require Planning Commission approval). Under the leadership of Bob Bridges, the Architectural Design Review Board heard the proposed architectural aspects of the plan and were able to view the blueprints and computer photos of what the building would look like after the work is completed. Since the meeting, the consensus among those in the audience seems to be that both they and the board members favorably received the proposals and are excited to see that "something is going to happen there."

Upon the issuance of building permits from the Village, and detailed building plans have already been submitted by Renaissance, the work can begin. Matthews estimates that it will take about 30 to 45 days to get the "go-ahead" and be able to begin. The first floor will be made up of 4,950 square feet of retail space on the north side of the building, which will lead out into a newly designed entry/concourse/general area. On the south side of the building in the blueprint is shown 9,755 square feet of retail space which can easily be divided into two small boutiques or shops. The second and third floors will be converted from retail space to office space, which will decrease the need for parking in the back parking field. Matthews explained that the reason the Planning Commission's approval is not necessary is because of this decrease in the parking. Retail space requires five spots for every 1,000 feet, whereas there are only four spots required for every 1,000 feet of office space.

Known as the former A&S building, 855 Franklin Avenue has sat unoccupied for longer than most Village residents care to recall. Some residents may recall that this building was originally built as the first Long Island location of the Frederick Loeser & Co. department store. One of the first giant stores of its kind, it was eventually purchased by Abraham & Strauss. The building next to the old A&S, known as "the annex" will also be owned by the Albanese. Matthews says that this property will most likely become a restaurant, since it seems that is the type of business most interested in the space.

The 888 Franklin Avenue property, also under Albanese's ownership, was originally to be the site for the latest Sutton Place Gourmet store. Unfortunately, it appears that Sutton will not be raising the needed capital to invest in the location, but Matthews is confident that they will soon solidify a deal to bring in "as desirable and attractive a tenant as Sutton Place was" and that there is no need to worry, especially now that the streetscape beautification plans are ever-closer to becoming a reality. Matthews says that the responses he has received from possible tenants almost always indicates a desire to see that the streetscape plans are definite and some even want to wait until the first jackhammer starts before committing to an investment in the Village. He added that businesses are watching this closely and the sooner the work gets underway, the better it will be for the Village.