PenFed, Nicoles expected to be demolished
Two large buildings which could be considered ‘anchors’ of Main St. in Highland Falls are soon to come down, according to Mayor Joe D’Onofrio.
In addition, a third large structure is about to be emptied.
D’Onofrio said Monday that he’s been notified that both the former Pentagon Federal Credit Union building on north Main St., and the former Nicole’s Restaurant & Catering building on south Main St. are to be torn down, both in the months ahead. He said the PenFed building, particularly, is said to be on an “aggressive timeline” for removal.
The PenFed building has been empty for well over a year after the bank moved its main local operations to a West Point location. It, and the land around it, was purchased on July 31, 2018 by HF Main Street Real Estate Inc, based in Austin, Tex., for $700,000.
The Nicole’s building has been empty for several years. It was purchased for $700,000, in January 2018, by the Latter-Day Saints Corp. Presiding Bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah.
There is no official word yet what will go in place of the torn down buildings.
In the cases of both buildings, D’Onofrio said he will host meetings of the property owners/designees, the Building Department, emergency services — especially the Highland Falls Fire Department — and Highway, Water and Sewer Departments to make sure that as demolition takes place community residents are not affected. He said he’s more worried about the process of taking down the Pen Fed building because of it’s close proximity to homes and utility lines.
At Monday’s Village Board meeting, Trustee Jim Ramus also suggested finding out, especially regarding the PenFed building, what route trucks carrying remnants of the building will leave the village, noting his concern about great weight on roads already in poor condition.
The third building D’Onofrio referred to is the large Key Bank building, across from Rite Aid and MyTown Marketplace. That branch of Key Bank is being closed on May 3, the mayor said.
