Baldwin Downtown Revitalization Initiative

Vision

In August 2019, Baldwin, in the Town of Hempstead, was selected the Long Island region's Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) winner. Baldwin has an ideal combination of existing assets, including connection to the Long Island Rail Road, recent strategic downtown investments, shovel-ready future opportunities, recent infrastructure improvements, and supportive policies and plans that would allow a jump-start to the DRI planning process. Ultimately, this DRI investment in Baldwin will serve as a catalyst toward the execution of the key projects that are ripe for implementation, which, once set in motion, will result in better economic and physical resiliency in the community.

The Town of Hempstead has crafted the following Vision to help guide future investment in the downtown of Baldwin:

  • The Baldwin community envisions its downtown as a thriving, vibrant, and pedestrian-friendly mixed-use corridor along Grand Avenue and Merrick Road, anchored by the Baldwin Long Island Railroad Station. Baldwin residents are diverse and engaged and have long recognized the potential for Downtown Baldwin to become a place where residents, commuters, and visitors want to live, work, shop, dine and recreate.
  • Through investments in public infrastructure, strategic leveraging of private development opportunities, and building on a foundation of its existing assets, Downtown Baldwin will thrive as a center of activity and sustainable economy that the community needs and has long been working toward.

Baldwin DRI Timeline

DRI planning is scheduled to be completed in October 2020. Key milestones that will inform engagement strategy include:

  • October/November 2019 - State agencies and the Consultant Team will begin work with the Town of Hempstead; a Local Planning Committee (LPC) will be formed; vision and goals will be completed.
  • January 2019 - The Downtown Profile and Assessment will be completed.
  • February 2020 - A final list of Downtown Revitalization strategies and a list of preliminary Priority Projects will be compiled.
  • March through August 2020 pause due to COVD-19.
  • September 2020 - Priority Project Profiles will be completed.
  • October 2020 - A Final DRI Strategic Investment Plan will be developed and completed.
  • Round Two Applications accepted from November 22, 2022 through January 17, 2023.
  • Round Three Applications being accepted from February 6, 2023 through July 31, 2023.

New York State Program Overview

The New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), now in its fourth year, is a comprehensive approach to transform communities ripe for development into vibrant communities where the next generation of New Yorkers will want to live and work. The State's ten Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs) nominate participating communities based on the potential for transformation, with each community awarded $10 million to develop a Strategic Investment Plan and implement key catalytic projects that advance the community's vision for revitalization.