HALLMARK ABSTRACT SERVICE PRESIDENT MICHAEL HALTMAN INTERVIEWED IN LIBN!

FROM HALLMARK ABSTRACT SERVICE

In conjunction with the work Hallmark Abstract Service President Michael Haltman has done to help promote the proposed Country Pointe of Plainview project on Long Island, David Winzelberg of Long Island Business News discussed the effort with him!

First to recap the Country Pointe of Plainview would be a residential and commercial development located on the 144-acre property at the intersection of the southerly side of Old Country Road and westerly side of Round Swamp Road, just south of the Long Island Expressway in Plainview.

As it was originally proposed it would consist of  ’536 age-restricted condominiums for people 55 and over, 264 two-bedroom residences open to all ages and 90 affordable homes for people over the age of 62, on some of a 143-acre parcel currently owned by Charles Wang.

In addition, the development calls for some office space and a shopping component that would include a 67,000-square-foot Shop Rite supermarket and 40,000 square feet of neighborhood retail shops. Beechwood will also set aside 43 acres for town athletic fields.‘

Prior articles at Hallmark Abstract Service concerning Country Pointe of Plainview include:

Sign the petition for Country Pointe Plainview!

Follow-up: Where do you stand on the proposed Country Pointe at Plainview project?

If you live in Plainview, New York you need to attend this meeting!

‘Abstract’s Haltman supports Beechwood plan‘ by David Winzelberg, LIBN

Besides the more than 4,500 letters of support that Jericho-based Beechwood Organization brought to an Oyster Bay Town hearing on its mixed-use plan in Plainview last month, the developer is also getting a boost from a real estate colleague and potential customer.

Michael Haltman, owner of Jericho-based Hallmark Abstract Service, a provider of residential and commercial title insurance, has put a link to a petition supporting the Beechwood proposal calledCountry Pointe at Plainview on his firm’s website.

“If you are in agreement that this project will be a positive for the people of Plainview and the area in general, show your support by signing the petition at the following link. Over 400 of your neighbors already have,” the website states.

Beechwood wants to build 536 age-restricted condominiums for people 55 and over, 264 two-bedroom residences open to all ages and 90 affordable homes for people over the age of 62, on some of a 143-acre parcel currently owned by Charles Wang.

In addition, the development calls for some office space and a shopping component that would include a 67,000-square-foot Shop Rite supermarket and 40,000 square feet of neighborhood retail shops. Beechwood will also set aside 43 acres for town athletic fields.

Haltman, 54, lives in a single-family home in Woodbury, but with the last of his three kids now graduating from high school, he said the proposed Plainview community would be an ideal place for him to downsize.

“I’m going to be looking for the type of housing they’re proposing,” Haltman said.

Though the contentious, eight-hour public hearing on the Beechwood plan brought out plenty of people on both sides of the proposal, Haltman said the area’s aging demographics dictates the need for this type of project.

“It’s also great for the tax base without affecting schools or services,” he said.

Beechwood principal Michael Dubb was appreciative when he heard about Haltman’s effort. Dubb said he is meeting Wednesday with a group of Plainview-area homeowners who also support the project.

“There are plenty of people in favor of it,” he said. “We just need to make sure their voices are heard.”

Once owned by Nassau County, Wang paid about $23 million for the Plainview property in 1999. It’s now home to soccer fields and a smattering of red-brick county buildings, where a variety of agencies lease space.

The wooded campus has the Wang-donated Plainview Chinese Cultural Center, and the offices of the New York Islanders. Originally a sprawling farm, the property also had a hospital for tuberculosis patients and housing for nurses.

In 2006, Wang pitched a controversial mixed-use community called Old Plainview with 660 condominiums and apartments, a hotel, retail shops and office buildings.

But Wang withdrew the application to the town in March 2007 because of vocal opposition from neighbors.

Beechwood is in contract to purchase the land if it is successful in securing a change of zone and approvals for the project from the town.
The town’s public comment period on Beechwood’s Plainview plan runs through April 4.