Ground broke this spring on a 64-unit luxury rental building at 263-267 East Shore Road in Great Neck, Nassau County, converting a former village sewer plant into a four-story apartment complex overlooking Manhasset Bay.
The developer is Villadom Corp., owned by Kouros “Kris” Torkan, who also serves as mayor of Kings Point. Torkan did not respond to a request for comment. The project, called East Shore Road Multi-Family, covers approximately 160,000 square feet and is designed by Greenvale-based Mojo Stumer Associates. Completion is anticipated in April 2028.
The building sits on a hillside, and the design team says that geography shaped every major decision. Terraced floors step into the slope to preserve water views for residents on lower levels. Exterior materials include porcelain panels, masonry, and glass. Landscaped pedestrian areas along the roadway are meant to soften what would otherwise be a large four-story presence on a stretch of East Shore Road that hasn’t seen much residential construction before.
“Waterfront sites come with a real responsibility,” said Joe Yacobellis, partner and director of design at Mojo Stumer Associates. “At East Shore Road, every decision, from the way the building steps into the hillside to the materials we selected, was made with that connection between architecture and landscape in mind.”
Yacobellis said the goal is to give residents “a home that captures the tranquility of waterfront living while keeping them connected to everything that makes this part of Long Island so vibrant.”
That’s a lot to ask of 64 units. But the site has real advantages. Manhasset Bay views are hard to come by, and the North Shore rental market doesn’t have many purpose-built luxury options. Most waterfront-adjacent rentals on the North Shore are converted single-family homes or older apartment stock that hasn’t been updated in decades.
Edna Mashaal of Edna Mashaal Realty said the timing makes sense given what she’s seeing day to day.
“The rental market is strong,” Mashaal said. She sees two main groups driving demand: empty nesters who’ve sold their homes and want to stay in the area without locking into another purchase, and newcomers arriving for work. “People come in from the city… and we also see professionals relocating,” she said.
Mashaal also sees a practical role for projects like this one for people in between moves. “It’s a positive thing, for buyers who have not found anything but really need to move in or hold on their next move for a couple of years,” she said.
Strong demand.
Not much new supply.
Those two facts explain why a developer would take on the complexity of a hillside waterfront site on a road that’s been defined for decades by commercial and industrial uses. East Shore Road has historically handled utilities, warehouses, and service businesses rather than residents. The sewer plant that Villadom Corp. is replacing is about as industrial as it gets.
That transformation is worth watching, because East Shore Road’s shift toward residential use could attract additional development along the corridor. Zoning battles and community opposition have slowed or killed similar projects elsewhere in Nassau County, where neighbors tend to push back hard on density. Great Neck has its own history of contentious development fights, and a 64-unit building from a developer who also happens to be the mayor of a neighboring village will invite scrutiny.
Torkan’s dual role as Kings Point mayor and lead developer here is the kind of overlap that raises questions, even if Kings Point has no direct jurisdiction over the Great Neck project. Local zoning and land use decisions on Long Island frequently involve relationships between neighboring municipalities, and the appearance of a conflict doesn’t require an actual one to generate community concern.
The project, as reported by Long Island Press, is moving ahead with a 2028 target date, which means the building will open into whatever rental market exists two years from now. If Mashaal’s read on current demand is right, that market won’t cool off fast enough to hurt the project. Great Neck is a desirable address, the bay views are real, and the design is at least attempting to do something more thoughtful than a generic rental box dropped onto a cleared lot.
Whether 64 units at luxury price points actually helps the broader housing crunch on the North Shore is a different question. It won’t.