Workforce housing

A developer in contract to buy 26 acres of vacant land off Middle Road is interested in developing the site with 34 workforce housing condominium units.

Developer David Gallo of Georgica Green Ventures today unveiled his plans for a 118-unit apartment building with ground-floor shops and restaurants on McDermott Avenue in downtown Riverhead.

The developer has scrapped plans for the former Sears building due to historic preservation rules and signed a contract to buy former Dinosaur Walk Museum, where it will seek to build 90 workforce housing rentals above ground-floor retail.

Thirty-three of the 48 units must be affordable to households 60 percent of area median income or less. The maximum household incomes would be: $44,150 for one person; $50,450 for two people; $56,750 for three people; and $63,050 for four people. Six units must have a cap of 50-percent of median income. Nine will be rented 'at market rate.'

Nineteen rental apartments, including studios, one- and two-bedroom units, are being offered at rents between $895 and $1,528 per month. The second floor apartments are located above Maximus Health Club, Goldberg's Bagels, and two currently empty storefronts, one of which has been leased to the Riverhead Flower Shop.