Housing should replace LI’s vacant malls, big box stores: Homebuilder trade group

Long Island Builders Institute CEO Mitchell Pally said shopping mall properties will need to be redeveloped

Long Island Builders Institute CEO Mitchell Pally (LIBI; Getty)
Long Island Builders Institute CEO Mitchell Pally (LIBI; Getty)

The head of a Long Island homebuilders trade group wants vacant big box properties and malls to be redeveloped as housing.

Long Island Builders Institute CEO Mitchell Pally delivered that message, and said local land use regulations would need to change to make that happen, Newsday reported.

“The ability to redevelop those sites for mixed-use projects, including rental [apartments] and condos, is going to be very important,” Pally said during a virtual discussion of the pandemic and its impact on the economy, according to the report.

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The Builders Institute calls itself the region’s largest trade association representing single-family and multifamily homebuilders. It is the local chapter of the National Association of Home Builders and the New York State Builders Association.

The coronavirus has dealt a blow to retailers in general, particularly the shopping mall sector, which was already struggling before Covid took hold in the spring. [Newsday] — Dennis Lynch