Hempstead to purchase Helen Keller building, convert it into new Village Hall

The Village of Hempstead expects to close soon on the purchase of the six-story Helen Keller office building for $8.7 million to turn it into Village Hall, the Hempstead Police Department and government agencies, Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. announced Monday.

“It's going to be the new Village Plaza, so we are going to have not only the mayor's office, tax and water, we'll have the police department there, our building department there, so all of the essential departments in the Village of Hempstead,” Hobbs said at a news conference about the village being awarded a $10 million state grant for downtown redevelopment. “We’re so scattered now. All of our residents will be able to go to one location to meet their needs.”

Hobbs said that the costs of moving into the new space and renovating it haven’t been calculated.

The building is owned by Helen Keller Services for the Blind, according to state property records. According to an online listing by real estate broker Cushman & Wakefield, it contains 73,500 square feet of office space on a 0.33-acre lot and was built in 1973.

Helen Keller Services for the Blind will vacate the 23,800 square feet of space it occupies after the building is sold, according the listing.

The village board approved borrowing up to $10 million to finance the purchase of the building at its Jan. 7 board meeting. 

The building sits on the corner of Fulton Avenue and Helen Keller Way, overlooking Denton Green Park from the south. The current Village Hall lies on the opposite side of the park. The village has 346 full-time employees, including 124 in the police department, according to 2024 financial records. 

Hobbs said the move will take one or two years, “because Helen Keller [Services] still is occupying the building as they're looking for their new location.” Tenants’ leases at the building are expiring and will be moving to other locations, he said.

Some tenants of the building include the nonprofit Legal Services of Long Island; Options for Community Living Inc., a nonprofit that assists people with chronic health or mental health conditions; and Sufi Social Adult Day Care Inc., an organization that offers a mix of activities and services.

Questions about the sale to staff at the building were referred to the Helen Keller National Center in Sands Point. An organization official offered to speak to Newsday later this week. Helen Keller Services for the Blind offers programs for vision-impaired individuals of all ages, according to its website.

The village wants to convert the short street Helen Keller Way into a pocket park, where events can be held, according to its application for grant money from the state’s Downtown Revitalization Program.