Responding to present and future competition and reduced occupancy rates caused by such competition, owners of the Garden City Hotel hope to convert four floors of their establishment into residential condominiums. The conversion will enable them to reinvest from the net proceeds of the condo sales to upgrade all the remaining hotel rooms and expand and enhance the spa and exercise areas.

"This is the appropriate time to reposition this historic property for the future," Patrick Smalley, hotel executive vice president, told the Garden City Life. "With the hotel business on Long Island becoming increasingly saturated we believe this next step in the evolution of The Garden City Hotel is in the very best interest of village."

By converting a portion of the hotel to luxury condominium residences, Smalley believes it will secure the hotel's competitive position as Long Island's luxury hotel for many years to come. "We will be creating a wonderful lifestyle for both residents and guests as we will be reinvesting proceeds from the sales of the residences into the hotel," Smalley added.

The targeted purchasers for the size and type of condos planned will most likely be empty nesters. As a result, hotel officials believe the conversion will not put any additional burden on the Garden City School District.

All the proposed work will occur within the building; no enlargement of the hotel's existing footprint is foreseen and there will be no addition of square footage or any change to the hotel's outward appearance. Moreover, condominium owners will have use of the hotel's valet parking services and there will be dedicated parking within the existing lot for residents as well, according to Smalley.

According to Village Administrator Robert Schoelle Jr. a letter sent to the village from the hotel's lawyer, John Armentano, a partner with Farrell Fritz, P.C., was the first formal communication between both parties and hotel officials have not yet appeared before any village boards.

Garden City's village ordinance permits condominium apartments in a hotel zone provided that "not more than 75 percent of the floor area of all buildings on the plot is devoted to apartment use." Although the floors to be converted have not yet been fully determined, the four floors of condos would total 60,000 square feet.

Eileen Collins, a former village trustee and current Princeton Street resident, told trustees The Garden City Hotel has been a very good neighbor to Garden City and urged them to keep that in mind when discussing the request.

"I think the Nelkins have done a wonderful job here in Garden City and it would greatly concern me to have condominiums put in St. Paul's right down the block from an existing business in our village that now wants to also put in condos," Collins said.

"I'm opposed to condos at St. Paul's but I'd ask the board when you do discuss this to think about the fact that you've got a business here in town that's been very good to the village now wanting to put them into their existing structure. I don't know how you can rationalize that kind of competition for high-end condos..."

The Garden City Hotel currently has 280 rooms and the exact number of hotel rooms after such a conversion has not yet been determined. However, there would not be less than 100 hotel rooms remaining. Moreover, the public areas of the hotel - ballrooms, meeting areas, health club, restaurants, etc. - would remain the same.

The village must complete its review before hotel officials can determine a construction start date. Smalley, however, noted that since no new structures are being constructed and the project will be a "relatively straight forward, albeit high-end, floor by floor conversion," hotel officials expect the process could be completed in less than 18 months with minimal disruption. It is not known at this time exactly how many condominium units are planned.

How much will these luxury condos go for? Smalley noted again it is too early in the process to determine. "However one could expect the prices to reflect the very strong demand for high quality apartment residences in Garden City," he said.