Four years after hailing the Long Island Science Center’s purchase of a vacant Main Street building as the centerpiece of downtown revitalization, Riverhead Town officials are taking steps to acquire the building — perhaps without a willing seller.
A resolution added to the Town Board’s May 22 meeting agenda authorizes and directs the town attorney to take all such actions “necessary and appropriate” to acquire the Science Center’s property at 111 East Main Street.
Those actions could include a condemnation proceeding to acquire the property. The Town Board previously authorized real property appraisals for property that officials declined to identify due to potential litigation. Last month, the board authorized a retainer agreement with the law firm of Smith Finkelstein Lundberg Isler and Yakaboski to commence two separate condemnation proceedings against properties that were not identified in the resolution or in the attached agreement. The identities of those properties remain unknown.
The resolution also directs that a copy of it be sent to Smith Finkelstein partner Frank Isler.
The resolution regarding the Science Center was not in the packet reviewed by the Town Board at its work session on Wednesday, but appeared in the packet posted to the town website and emailed to the press by the town clerk Friday afternoon. Supervisor Tim Hubbard could not immediately be reached for comment Friday and did not return a reporter’s phone call.
Long Island Science Center President Larry Oxman on Friday evening said he knew nothing about the Town Board action.
“This is the first I’m hearing of it,” Oxman told a reporter in a phone interview.
Oxman denied having any discussions with town officials about an acquisition of the property, the former home of Swezey’s Department Stores, which the Science Center purchased in 2020 for $1.45 million.
Town officials, including the former town supervisor, have voiced concerns about the nonprofit organization’s wherewithal to complete the renovation of the long-vacant building that lines the west side of the town square.
Former Supervisor Yvette Aguiar stated those concerns publicly, including during a meeting of the local planning committee tasked with developing recommendations for allocation of funding for the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative state grant awarded to the Town of Riverhead in early 2022. Despite the former supervisor’s concerns, the local planning committee recommended $1 million in funding for the Science Center project. However, the project was passed over by the state in the final awards announced in December 2022.
MORE COVERAGE: What comes next for Long Island Science Center, after being passed over for $1M Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant?
In November, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced a $1 million downtown revitalization grant for the Science Center. The grant, which came as “a complete surprise” to the organization, according to its executive director, would be “transformative for us moving forward.”
A few weeks after that announcement, Aguiar, in an interview, lashed out at the Science Center and at Oxman in particular. She accused Oxman of being uncooperative with the town and delaying the property’s redevelopment and of trying to sell the property “behind the scenes” for more than $5 million since the year before — claims Oxman adamantly denied.
The Science Center property had been listed for sale on the commercial real estate site Loopnet, for $3.45 million, which Oxman explained was done in the hope of attracting a developer interested in a purchase and leaseback agreement with the Science Center, shifting responsibility for the redevelopment to a private business. The listing is no longer being advertised on the website.
In the same interview in November, Aguiar confirmed the town was exploring the possibility of acquiring the Science Center property through condemnation in an eminent domain procedure, an action brought in court to obtain title to real estate without the agreement of the property owner. The municipality is required to pay fair market value for a property, which is established by an appraisal.
Aguiar also said an appraisal authorized by the Town Board on Nov. 9 for an undisclosed property that officials declined to identify — due to potential litigation, the town attorney said — was an appraisal of the science center site.
Other town officials declined to comment on the outgoing supervisor’s remarks.
If the town is planning a condemnation proceeding to acquire the Science Center property there is no indication in court records available online that any legal action has yet been filed.
There is also no indication what the town would do with the property if it does acquire it, either through condemnation or a negotiated purchase. The resolution on Wednesday’s agenda states, without elaboration, that the Science Center site is “required for general municipal purposes.”
The resolution’s language authorizes and directs the town attorney or his designee to “take all such actions as may be necessary and appropriate to consummate such acquisition, including, but not limited to, securing appraisals, obtaining surveys, obtaining engineering reports, securing title searches and insurance, and executing such other documents as are required to acquire such interest in said property.”
On Friday evening, Oxman was incredulous.
“We just got the money from the county,” he said, referring to the $1 million downtown revitalization grant from the county. “The money just went in the bank.”
A second resolution added to the meeting agenda packet published Friday authorizes the town attorney to negotiate – and authorizes the supervisor, upon Town Board approval, to sign — any agreements necessary to purchase or acquire the “leasehold interest” of SNR Bar 25 Corp. in the ground-floor premises at 127 East Main Street presently occupied by Craft’d.
The town purchased the property at 127 East Main Street in 2021, along with the adjacent properties at 121 and 117 East Main Street, from Riverhead Enterprises for $4.85 million. The town demolished the two buildings at 121 and 117 to make way for the town square. It later planted grass there and installed a cement walkway connecting Main Street to the riverfront parking lot.
The town intends to convey the 127 East Main Street property to J. Petrocelli Development Associates, under terms not yet disclosed. The Town Board designated the firm “master developer” for the town square project in April 2022.
MORE COVERAGE: Town square project moves forward, with goal of construction bidding next year
The town is now applying for up to $2 million in state grant funding on behalf of J. Petrocelli Development Associates in connection with the demolition of the building at 127 East Main Street to make way for a proposed mixed use building on the site.
Petrocelli plans to construct on the site a 74-room hotel and 13 condominium units, with restaurants and small retail on the first floor, according to the resolution authorizing the grant application that was approved earlier this month by the Town Board.
MORE COVERAGE: Town plans to apply for state grant to aid Petrocelli hotel project on town square
The project initially described by Petrocelli included a four-story, 84-room hotel with retail shops, a restaurant and museum space on the ground floor, located on the east side of the town square, as well as a two-story building on the west side of the town square abutting the Long Island Science Center building, The two-story building on the west side of the town square is no longer part of the plan, town officials have said. Also eliminated were a boathouse and a four-story condominium building on the riverfront, located on the western end of the municipal parking lot.
The master developer agreement, which apparently is not yet finalized, has not been released in draft form to the public. An updated version of the development plan has also not been made public.
Editor’s note: This story has been amended to correct an error in the reported amount paid for the properties the town purchased from Riverhead Enterprises in 2021.
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