INCOMPLETE The business complex at 42 Main Street has remained only partially completed since February when its work permits expired. Manor Ink file photos
What’s with the stalled projects on Main Street?
Work stopped at 42; laundromat now sold
By Zoey McGee | Manor Ink
Livingston Manor, NY – As we step into the tourist season in Manor, it’s important to stay informed about the status of several ongoing projects in town. Some of these are incomplete, with construction work apparently stalled. Recently, people have raised concerns about their unsightly appearance and how they will look to our visitors. To address this, Manor Ink looked into the status of these projects, and here’s what the paper has learned.
UNCERTAIN STATUS Construction work on the Manor’s laundromat and car wash, seen above in 2022, was never completed. The building now has a new owner.
In late December 2022, the old stone building on 44 Main Street was torn down to make way for a new development. Randy Lewis, co-owner and co-founder of Global Natural Foods, Inc., and partner in the Catskill Brewery on Old Rte. 17, planned to create a new office-and-shop complex at 44 and 42 Main Street. The development plans were the cover story in the Ink’s February 2023 issue. Construction on the building started at the beginning of that year, but recently, work has come to a halt, leaving the structure bare and a portion roofless.
The Building Dept. of the Town of Rockland implemented a stop-work order, based on the notice on the front of the building. Dated in February, it explains that violations were found upon inspection and briefly states that the time limit on the project’s building permits had been reached. Unfortunately, efforts to contact Rockland Code Enforcement Officer Glenn Gabbard for further information on the status of the building proved unsuccessful by press time. Building owner Lewis also did not return the paper’s calls.
Another unfinished project in the town’s core is the vacant space, formerly a car wash, part of the Washing Well laundromat on Main Street. Demolition work on that portion of the building began in 2022 in anticipation of possibly opening a restaurant, but little has happened since then and the structure remains boarded up.
The Ink has learned that the laundromat’s owners have sold the building to the Keiser Redevelopment Project, the organization under the direction of renowned New York restaurateur Bon Yagi. In January, Yagi announced plans to build a sake brewery and shopping complex on three acres of property on Pleasant Street, formerly owned by the Keiser Restaurant Equipment Co. The laundromat is adjacent to that property. What the Keiser Redevelopment Project plans to do with the laundromat building is unknown at present.