Great Neck Village Hall To Move

GREAT NECK, NY — Great Neck Village Hall has outlived its time as municipal headquarters, according to village officials. The village’s board of trustees Mayor Pedram Bral on June 16 authorized over teleconference buying a vacant plot on which to build a new village hall, the Great Neck Record reported.

The resolution, passed unanimously, allows the village to buy a 79-by-123-foot lot, currently owned by Nexgen Properties of Lake Success, at 756 Middle Neck Rd. When the new building is completed, the old village hall will be sold to Great Neck Public Schools, which holds surrounding property.

The decision to buy a new property, rather than renovate the current building, comes in part due to financial considerations. Updating the current village hall "would be extremely destructive financially and as far as time goes," Bral said, according to the Record. "It’s a very old building with old pipes and no elevator. It’s a better move to move it to a new place."

The new property used to be a private residence. According to the resolution, the purchase price for the new property will be $800,000. The assessed value of the lot was higher, Bral said, but the village negotiated a lower price given various stipulations within the sale agreement. These conditions include the requirement that the village use the property exclusively for a village hall for 25 years. The village also cannot sell the lot to the adjacent property to its north, nor use the space for residential purposes for a period of 50 years.

County records obtained by Patch showed the building at 61 Baker Hill Rd. dates to 1838. The building was given to the town by the Baker family to use as its municipal headquarters.