New ‘upscale’ apartment building proposed for West Main Street; science center seeks new home

Plans for a new downtown apartment building will be unveiled at this morning’s work session.

The five-story brick building proposed for 11 West Main Street will feature 52 one- and two-bedroom apartments with amenities including private ground-floor parking, a rooftop sun deck, a gym, a pool and a spa, according to project architect Martin Sendlewski of Riverhead.

Each of the 16 one-bedroom and 36 two-bedroom units will include a full kitchen, laundry room, dining room, living room, walk-in closets, a private balcony and one-and-a-half baths, Sendlewski wrote in an email to RiverheadLOCAL.

The building will feature a central, four-story atrium open to a skylight that will flood the building interior with sunlight, Sendlewski said.

There will be a central area on each floor where building amenities will be located: a community room on the second floor; an activity room on the third floor; a gym on the fourth floor; a pool and spa on the fifth floor, according to the architect. Situated on the south side of West Main Street, the building will have views of the park and river, Sendlewski said.

“These are upscale units which may include rental and/or purchase options,” Sendlewski wrote. Sendlewski did not disclose the names of the developers of the project, called “Blue River Estates.”

The half-acre site of the proposed development is currently occupied by the Long Island Science Center and an adjacent parking lot, just west of the bank building on the corner of Peconic Avenue and Main Street.

L.I. Science Center longtime board member Dr. Peter Takacs confirmed Wednesday night that the property is in contract to be sold to developers.

The organization is still looking for a new home, Takacs said.

“We need more space to grow and to be able to do more things,” Takacs said in an interview Wednesday night. “There are a couple of possibilities, but no definite commitments yet,” he said.

“We’d like to stay on Main Street and be part of the downtown renaissance,” Takacs said. “We’re 100 percent committed to staying in downtown Riverhead.”

Sendlewski said Wednesday night the he had presented the rendering, drawn by Jeffrey Sendlewski, to the ARB earlier in the day.

He did not provide any further details about the project, which he said would be formally presented to the town board at Thursday morning’s work session.

The town board’s work session agenda was not yet available on the town’s website as of the time of publication of this article.

Peter Blasl contributed reporting for this story.

Rendering credit: Jeffrey Sendlewski

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