Garden City trustees voted 6 to 1 in favor of granting Garden City Hotel officials permission to convert four floors of their establishment into residential condominiums.

Posh Ultra Lounge, a nightclub located inside the hotel that has gotten less than favorable press in recent months because of several physical altercations, must close prior to the issuance of the first certificate of occupancy, according to Garden City Building Superintendent Mike Filippon.

Mayor Gerard Lundquist, Deputy Mayor Peter Bee and Trustees Nick Episcopia, Donald Brudie, Robert Rothschild and John Watras approved the local law, Trustee John Mauk did not attend the meeting and therefore could not vote and Trustee Tom Lamberti voted against it. He believes the local law, which immediately went into effect Aug. 17, should have triggered Posh Ultra Lounge to close immediately. "The nightclub has not been a compatible use for our environment," Trustee Lamberti said. "Why can't enacting the law be a trigger to immediately closing Posh?"

Patrick Smalley, executive vice president of The Garden City Hotel, told trustees that although hotel officials are anxious to close Posh and move forward with construction, it is not financially feasible to close the nightclub right now.

Garden City Hotel owners, in responding to present and future competition and reduced occupancy rates caused by such competition, believe 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.

Back in March, Smalley told Garden City Life that this was the appropriate time to reposition this historic property for the future. "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 the village," he said.

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." Hotel owners successfully sought a 7 percent increase, bringing them to 82 percent of allowable floor area to devote to condominium use.

According to Building Superintendent Filippon, the Wyndham takes up 71.9 percent of that 75 percent, which left the hotel with only 3.1 percent remaining for condominium use or approximately 24,000 square feet. The newly approved local law now gives hotel owners 10.1 percent or 75,000 square feet for conversion - tripling the space.

All the proposed construction will occur within the building; no enlargement of the hotel's existing footprint is foreseen and there will be no 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.

The Garden City Hotel currently has 280 rooms; 115 will remain after the conversion. Moreover, the public areas of the hotel - ballrooms, meeting areas, health club, restaurants, etc. - would remain the same.

Hotel officials expect the construction process could be completed in less than 18 months with minimal disruption. Further, the exact number of condominiums depends on the size of each unit. The targeted purchasers for the size and type of condos planned will most likely be empty nesters; hotel owners believe this will not put an extra burden on the Garden City School District. One could expect the price of each unit to reflect the very strong demand for high quality apartment residences in Garden City.