Mequity Acquisitions LLC, an affiliate of real estate developer Mequity Cos., is under agreement to acquire the Hot Skates roller rink in Lynbrook, N.Y., as long as the city greenlights its plans to develop a self-storage facility on the site. The company intends to demolish the building at 14 Merrick Road and replace it with a 128,000-square-foot structure. If approved, construction is expected to begin in mid-2019 and be complete in 2020, according to the source.

The storage facility would be designed to resemble an office building, and the site would feature landscaping to “soften up the look,” Brian Stanton, building department superintendent, told the source. The property would be branded as CubeSmart, a self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm.

“We’re excited to be coming into the Lynbrook market,” said Bill Marsh, CEO of Mequity. “The market in Lynbrook and the surrounding villages is underserved with a high-quality, climate-controlled storage product, so we believe that we’ll be fulfilling a need.”

Village officials appear to favor the project, though Mequity still needs to submit information to the building department, public works and Nassau County Fire Marshal. Mayor Alan Beach is among those championing the development, in part due to an expected increase in tax revenue.

“I’m happy something is going to go there that is going to be very neat and clean,” Beach told the source. “It’s a beautiful building, and I don’t see any strain on the community with having a storage facility there. It’s out of the way. I think it’s a good location.”

Some residents disagree with the mayor’s assessment, calling for another skating rink, sports facility or related use that would provide activities for children. “How many storage facilities do we need?” resident Jeff Esposito wrote in a survey response to the source. “How about the village buys it and builds a mixed-use indoor sporting facility, so we have more winter activities for our children? Indoor soccer, hockey.”

Hot Skates has served the community since the 1980s, though owner Rochelle Bernstein has planned to close the business for several years, according to the source. The site has been used as a filming location for several productions including television series “The Bachelorette,” “Kevin Can Wait,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Atlanta-based Mequity is an investment firm focused on the self-storage industry. The company has closed more than $100 million in facility development in 2017 and 2018. Its primary markets include the Atlanta, Miami, New York and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas as well as Northern New Jersey. Its principals are Marsh and Robert Holly.

Source:
LI Herald, Lynbrook's Hot Skates to Be Converted Into Storage Facility