Counsel Jeff Forchelli, representing Sunrise Senior Living, the organization that hopes to erect a 61,000 square foot, three-story, 82-unit facility on the current site of the Cathedral House, came before the village board July 8 urging trustees to act on his client's application.

The application, which also calls for 41 off-street parking spaces, all of which would enter and exit off the existing driveway with no proposed access to Cathedral and/or Cherry Valley Avenues, is also before the village's Architectural Design Review Board (ADRB) and Planning Commission. The application seeks to amend the village zoning code to allow for the facility's construction, operation and maintenance on at last three acres in the R-20 District.

"We are seeking necessary approval to construct," Forchelli said. Sunrise originally filed the application with the board of trustees back in April 2003. A public information meeting was held in June of 2003 and Sunrise formally submitted revised plans this past May, scaling back their original four-story proposal to three stories. During last Thursday's board meeting, the public had another chance to see the proposal and voice questions and/or concerns.

The existing two-story Cathedral House (which also contains a basement) is 37,300 square feet although Trustee Jon Segerdahl raised concern for a possible discrepancy. He noted that planner Frank Fish of Buckhurst Fish & Jacquemart (BFJ) calculated a smaller square footage. Fish is currently reviewing his calculations.

The facility would offer one- and two-story suites, ranging in size from approximately 275 to 650 square feet, selling for $3,000 to $6,000 and offering a private bath/shower and a kitchen area. "Why Garden City?" Joe McElwee, senior vice president of new business development for Sunrise Senior Living, asked. "The demographics are staggering."

McElwee noted that a little more than 45,000 households, headed by 45- to 64-year-olds (Sunrise's target market) who oftentimes are caring and making decisions for their aging parents, exist within a five-mile radius of the proposed site. "As much as we want Sunrise to be part of your community, we want the community to be part of Sunrise," McElwee said, adding that it's typical to invite community organizations, like the Rotary and Girl Scouts, to the facility.

Although Sixth Street resident John Donachie believes there is a need for assisted living in Garden City, he's not sure whether Sunrise is the right partner to move forward. "Sunrise has had a number of problems," he said, adding that the "terms of the game are constantly changing" with the Cathedral. Sixth Street neighbor Ed Finneran agreed. "Their proposal, audacious in size and scope, flies in the face of what this village is all about."

The facility could provide an estimated annual gross revenue of $5 million; the estimated construction cost is approximately $12 million. Nine Sunrise Senior Living facilities currently exist on Long Island with 92.2 percent occupancy in all of Nassau County.

"This is an appropriate site for this use and we hope that, since 15 months from filing this application, it gets moving," Forchelli concluded.

Mayor Barbara Miller noted that the board asked Dean James Cardone if a master plan for the entire Cathedral property existed. "He said no but I believe you do need one. We're very interested in what's taking place on that entire site." The Cathedral's chief legal representative and chancellor stated that Cathedral officials are currently negotiating with the Garden City School District for the purpose of selling to the district the playing fields which they currently lease (near the middle school).

"There are no plans for third party development," the chancellor assured. Further, he noted that the Cathedral House property is being leased, not sold, to Sunrise. "The existing Cathedral House will be closed and the existing building demolished," he explained. "That would require construction of an alternative Cathedral House on the property the Cathedral currently owns. The tentative drawings would place the new building between the back of the existing Cathedral of the Incarnation and Rockaway Avenue.

The size and configuration of that structure is "fluid," depending largely on whether or not the Sunrise project gets the green light and to what extent the Cathedral's fund-raising efforts are.

"There will have to be a relocation of the Cathedral House," the chancellor noted. "At this stage, however, we can't tell you what it's going to be because quite frankly we don't know. All of that will depend largely on whether we get a funding source from this project and what our fund-raising efforts are."

It's important to note that for approximately one year the Cathedral Nursery School has been an independent educational corporation and is no longer affiliated with the Cathedral of the Incarnation. When the school existed on the Cathedral property, it was helping to subsidize operational costs of the building. There is, however, no longer a financial connection.

The new Cathedral House would have to contain administrative uses and ideally, contain a rehearsal facility for the Cathedral choirs, a meeting room, a kitchen and possibly more.

"Unfortunately, we have a chicken and egg problem. We won't know what we're going to build unless we know what type of income stream we'll have from Sunrise," the chancellor admitted. No planner has yet been engaged.

Trustee Segerdahl noted this is the first he's hearing of plans to re-locate and construct a new Cathedral House on the property; the board concurred and asked for the preliminary construction plans. Village Counsel Gary Fishberg asked whether Cathedral officials would agree to a covenant restriction so there is not confusion as to what uses the remaining property would entail and how those uses would impact the surrounding community. The chancellor told trustees he'd discuss it with Cathedral officials and bring their decision back to the board.