The Growth Of Lindenhurst’s Downtown Area

LINDENHURST, NY - Village officials and businesses have been working to revitalize downtown Lindenhurst in the past year.

The village has recently seen an increase in new businesses with at least eight opening on Hoffman Avenue and Wellwood Avenue in downtown area since January.

The new businesses include: WA Meadwerks, Sidelines Café, The Color Palette, 27A Brewery, C’est La Vie Boutique, Restoration Kitchen and Cocktails, South Shore Theatre and Bisou Event.

Richard Renna, village trustee and vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, says one huge factor of this growth includes hiring a new village grant writer, Nicole Christian.

“Some would say [revitalization efforts] began a few years back when they started up the economic development committee in 2016 or so,” Renna said. “We really began to get going as a government in April 2017. We hired the grant writer, applied for major grants, started up the Lindenhurst Economic Development Committee and began meeting with different business groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Improvement District on a regular business.”

Renna also said that Lindenhurst began to see serious traction in March following the opening of new businesses.

Two of grants awarded to the village included a $40,000 in downtown revitalization funds through the New York State Consolidated Funding Application and $200,000 from Suffolk County with assistance, from Legislator Kevin McCaffrey for the walkability study.

In study began in September with an event to promote people walking and bike riding in the downtown as well as get feedback from residents. The full results of the study will be released in 2019.

Jason Kontakis, a local real estate agent, agrees there was a growth in the number of stores being leased since January.

In 2017, he only leased one store in the area, which has seen multiple vacancies in the past two years. However, in the past six to eight months Kontakis has leased about seven new businesses.

“From my experience, there has definitely been an uptick,” he said.

The owners of these new businesses are also noticing the changes in the area. Elizabeth Gilmore who opened her art studio, The Color Palette, in July says she hopes to continue to see the downtown area grow.

“I really want to see Lindenhurst prosper and change a little bit, have a little bit more things to do, add a little more foot traffic so I think the revitalization will help,” she said.

Patch photos