Funding Update – $10 Million Awarded in NYS DRI Grant funds for Downtown Revitalization Improvements – Village of Hempstead, NY
Congratulations to the Village of Hempstead for securing $10 million in NYS Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) funding! Laberge Group was pleased to partner with the Village of Hempstead to secure this funding which will be the catalyst for strengthening Downtown Hempstead as a thriving destination where individuals can live, work, and raise families in a vibrant, well-connected, and diverse community.
The Village of Hempstead retained Laberge Group to provide ongoing grant services including a complete 2024 DRI process. For the DRI process and application, a comprehensive Steering Committee of Village officials, residents, business owners and stakeholders was formed. Laberge Group led the committee in identifying projects and areas that would shape a transformative vision for the heart of Downtown Hempstead.
In the Long Island DRI award announcement made Friday, March 14th, Governor Kathy Hochul stated “By investing nearly $15 million in revitalizing Hempstead and Farmingdale, we’re creating stronger communities that honor their history and possibility — paving a path for generations of Long Islanders to experience all they have to offer.”
Meetings and discussions with the Steering Committee and community members were the key to understanding the Village’s most pressing revitalization needs. Laberge Group supplemented this in-person input by analyzing pertinent documents and previous grant applications. This input and analysis led to the collaborative development of revitalization priorities and projects that would leverage existing and anticipated investment with DRI funding to maximize resources toward significant revitalization.
In response to the DRI award announcement, the Village of Hempstead Mayor Waylyn Hobbs said, “Hempstead is a proud, hardworking community, and this $10 million investment will go a long way in making our downtown a place where families, businesses, and visitors can thrive. We’re incredibly grateful to Governor Hochul for believing in Hempstead and for giving us the tools to build a stronger, more vibrant future. This funding means more opportunities for local businesses, more housing for our residents, and a downtown that truly reflects the energy and diversity of our village. We’re excited to get to work and make this vision a reality.”
Laberge Group assisted in crafting an award winning DRI application that comprehensively analyzed the needs and opportunities of the Village to help establish a broad vision, specific projects and plans for the Downtown Hempstead’s DRI area’s HOUSING, EDUCATION, ARTS AND CULTURE, RECREATION, and TRANSPORTATION; revitalizing the HEART of Hempstead.
- Housing: Attract and create a broad mix of housing options.
- Economic Development and Revitalization: Attract and stimulate major private sector investment; foster food, entertainment, health, and aligned retail and service offerings; improve access to childcare; redevelop abandoned and underutilized properties; collaborate with academic institutions to incubate and sustain small businesses.
- Arts and Culture: Enhance cultural arts.
- Recreation and Enrichment: Promote mixed-use infill; implement green and natural design to aid livability, community character and reduce the consumption of energy; establish parks as highly inviting civic and open space; advance complete and green streets to provide distinctive enhancements in community character.
- Transportation and Training: Expand employment opportunities and workforce training; encourage transit-oriented development; connect to regional transit centers.
Through strategic collaboration and pointed investment, Revitalizing the HEART of Hempstead is the voice and vision of residents, business owners and community organizations. Revitalizing the HEART of Hempstead implements powerful strategies to reinforce and leverage growth in the Village of Hempstead’s core. It restores, enhances, and modernizes a distinct and versatile mixed-use business and residential center. Through sustained placemaking, and targeted local economic stimulus, it generates diverse housing, job growth, plus supports families and fortifies community. With many nearby schools, its economic empowerment includes a strengthening of strategic partnerships extending across early childcare through college, and workforce development realms, thereby ensuring the Village is prepared for the future, and its economic and social base is vital and well-rounded so that all thrive.
The Village and DRI area features many distinct landmark businesses, transit and recreation sites including The African American Museum of Nassau County, St. George’s Church, Denton Green, the Hempstead Public Library, Village and Town Municipal Courts and Offices; day care centers, schools, the Hempstead LIRR Station and Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center (serving over 3.4 million riders in 2023); retail services, civic institutions, religious establishments, housing, public facilities, and commercial strips. It includes a variety of buildings of different sizes and purposes, contributing to the dynamic nature of downtown Hempstead.
The Village’s social fabric, its historic essence, and its physical as-sets underpin revitalization. The character and walkable nature of Hempstead’s streetscape will be evoked through new transit-oriented housing and mixed business growth and infill. There will be distinctive entertainment, hospitality, retail service, professional office, housing, lite industry, and community functions brought to life that will support a vital Downtown Hempstead economy, social diversity, and bolster Hempstead’s urban fabric. Importantly, public-private partnerships will be formed to grow and diversify the economy, highlight downtown district offerings, and bolster and enable cohesive links with local schools and universities.
“Within the HEART of Hempstead, we will overcome environmental injustice and we will green our economy. Under this holistic downtown revitalization approach, the Village envisions excellent standards of living, safe settings, plentiful housing choices, complete streets, economic growth and stability, access to meaningful employment and healthcare, civic quality, and abundant physical and social amenities.” Excerpt from the DRI application Vision Statement
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