Calverton Aviation and Technology will be directed to appear before the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency for a public information session about its plans for the Calverton Enterprise Park, Riverhead IDA Executive Director Tracy Stark-James announced during last night’s IDA meeting.
The public information session with the Triple Five affiliate will be held “so that the agency and the public can get a more detailed understanding of its proposed project.”
“We’ll be scheduling several information sessions…within the next few weeks for further consideration, and for the benefit of the public to hear about the plans and comment on them,” Stark-James said.
No dates were announced.
Stark-James said last night the IDA is “anxious to hear from CAT concerning the contemplated project,” after citing the letter from Triple Five executive and CAT CEO Justin Ghermezian published in RiverheadLOCAL July 11. Ghermezian stated in that letter the company is still working on its plans for the site and those “development plans will not include a cargo jetport.“
CAT gave the IDA a detailed presentation of its plans for the Calverton Enterprise Park, which were outlined in its joint application with the Town of Riverhead for IDA benefits, during the IDA meeting of Sept. 21, 2022. The IDA board voted that night to accept the application for review.
VIDEO: Calverton Aviation & Technology presentation to Riverhead Industrial Development Agency
The plans presented at the IDA’s Sept. 21, 2022 meeting included the phased development of more than 8 million square feet of logistics and distribution buildings, nearly all of it along the site’s two runways, with 400,000 square feet at an extended existing rail spur on the site.
The plans also call for the construction of three smaller “flex” buildings, totaling 400,000 square feet, which would be set back from the runway. The “flex” buildings would house “tenants in the aeronautics, industrial, aviation, environmental, energy…medical (and) educational…fields,” CAT’s attorney Peter Curry of Farrell Fritz told the IDA Sept. 21.
According to CAT representatives during the Sept. 21 presentation to the IDA, the logistics warehouses would be leased to tenants that would fly in cargo for regional distribution by tractor-trailer to other facilities, known as “last-mile” distribution centers.
The logistics facilities were not previously discussed by the company during presentations to the Town Board, or during the company’s “qualified and eligible sponsor” hearing in 2018.
CAT’s project engineer Chris Robinson told the IDA board Sept. 21 that Amazon, an “example” of the kind of tenant the warehouses on the runway would serve, presently trucks goods to “last-mile” distribution centers on Long Island from larger warehouses or airports.”
“Currently, that end of the logistics business is not handled on Long Island,” Robinson said. UPS, FedEx and Amazon partner airlines currently ship to JFK International Airport in Queens and Newark International Airport in New Jersey.
“This would be an incredible opportunity to bring that here…to provide that on Long Island and help feed Long Island from that end of it, versus all of the trucking that currently comes…from points west,” Robinson told the IDA.
MORE COVERAGE: Air cargo logistics hub in Calverton planned by Triple Five affiliate to enhance package delivery services on Long Island
Faced with immediate community outcry, CAT very quickly denied it planned to build a “cargo jetport” at the site. But the company did not offer an explanation of how the plans it aired differed from from a “cargo jetport.”
CAT representatives were confronted by residents demanding clarity about its plans and voicing opposition to air cargo at EPCAL during a May 3 forum hosted by the Riverhead IDA, but the acrimonious meeting ended without any resolution of that question.
After Riverhead council member and town supervisor candidate Tim Hubbard announced in a guest column published in RiverheadLOCAL July 5 that he will not support a “cargo jetport” at EPCAL, Ghermezian submitted his July 11 letter. It was the first public indication from the company that its plans for the site might be changing, though his statements were not specific.
“As the Town’s designated developer of this site, CAT recognizes Councilman Hubbard’s concerns and respects his position about any such potential use, and further appreciates the similar concerns voiced by a number of Riverhead residents at the recent public forum hosted by the IDA,” Ghermezian wrote.
RiverheadLOCAL asked Ghermezian in a reply email that day whether Triple Five’s plans will include “logistics and distribution buildings that will be leased to tenants which which receive cargo via the runways” and whether the IDA application would be amended.
Ghermezian responded the same day: “Allow me to consider the questions you pose with the understanding that my response may not be able to make this week’s deadline for your paper.”
RiverheadLOCAL has not yet received any further communication from Ghermezian or any other company representative.
During yesterday’s IDA meeting, Stark-James said “discussions have been ongoing with regard to responding to due diligence letters.”
The IDA’s transaction counsel on the project “Phillips Lytle has been working with an accounting firm that specializes in investigative and forensic accounting,” Stark-James said. “And a letter went out today with what will be a final documents request,” she said.
Calverton Aviation and Technology is in contract to buy 1,644 acres of vacant industrial land at the Enterprise Park at Calverton from the Riverhead Community Development Agency for $40 million. The town was unable to finalize the land subdivision needed to transfer the land to CAT because of regulatory issues with the State Department of Environmental Conservation, to which the town applied for permits required for final subdivision approval.
The town and CAT agreed in early 2022 to file a joint application to the IDA for property and other tax exemptions to assist CAT with the development. As part of that agreement, the town will convey all of the land it owns at the enterprise park — a total of 2,100 acres — to the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency if the IDA approves the application for benefits. The IDA would enter into a lease and project agreements with the Community Development Agency and CAT that would require CAT to obtain the subdivision and other approvals at its own expense. CAT would pay the balance due under the contract of sale as soon as the IDA approves the joint application for benefits.
MORE COVERAGE: The $40 million land deal between Riverhead and Triple Five affiliate ‘CAT’: a look back
Alek Lewis contributed reporting for this story.
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