Town considers possible sale of historic building to private firm for restoration and reuse

Riverhead Town is exploring the possible sale of the historic building on Griffing Avenue acquired in the $20 million purchase of the West Second Street campus from Peconic Bay Medical Center in 2023. 

Town Board members agree that they’d like to see the building, vacant and in a state of disrepair, restored and rehabilitated.

The two-story wood frame building, known as the Slade-Hallett House, was designated a town landmark in 1982. It dates back to the mid- to late-19th century, according to the Riverhead Landmarks Preservation Commission’s list of town landmarks and historic districts. It is also one of the 219 historic resources located within the Downtown Riverhead Historic District, which was established by the Town Board in 2006. 

The Riverhead town attorney’s office is recommending that the Town Board issue a request for proposals seeking qualified firms to acquire, restore and rehab the building, much as the town did in 2014 with the East Lawn Building at 542 East Main Street. 

The East Lawn building, also a town-designated landmark dating back to the mid-19th century, was saved from demolition by the town’s purchase in 1984, but had fallen into disrepair under town ownership. As a result of the RFP process, the town sold the East Lawn property to J. Petrocelli Development Associates in 2016 for $150,000. Petrocelli completed a restoration of the historic building and sold it to a new owner last year.

Deputy Town Attorney Annemarie Prudenti told the Town Board at Thursday’s work session that the town attorney’s office recommends following a similar path with the Slade-Hallett House. 

Rothwell questioned what the procedure would be “if the property itself is deemed unstable.” 

“I’m sure everybody sitting up here wants to preserve the property and restore it and watch it, but, to what extent or who makes the determination whether or not it is beyond restoration at any point?” Rothwell asked.

“Well, the landmarks committee, pursuant to our town code, with the assistance of building and engineering, could do a review of the property and determine if that’s so. If you want that done first, absolutely we could do that,” Prudenti replied.  

Rothwell said an evaluation would give anyone bidding on the property knowledge of what it’s worth. “If it is, in fact, sadly, if it’s a tear-down, it’s property value and demolition costs involved. If it needs to be restored, a significant amount more money is going to be involved in that.”

“So just like with the East Lawn property, we do have an appraisal of the property,” Prudenti said.  “But given the fact that historic restoration is very expensive on any project, any building, it’s really the totality of the RFP, the qualifications of the firm, what they intend to use it for, how compatible it is with zoning, Town Hall use — that will all weigh in,” Prudenit said.

“I would hate to see it demo’d because all of the ones that have been redone… it just adds beauty to the town to restore those historic properties,” Supervisor Tim Hubbard said. “It’s incredible… the outside trim and everything that something like that, built in the 1850s, that you had craftsmen to be able to do that without the equipment and machinery that they have [now], they can mass produce that stuff. You couldn’t afford to do it today. I mean, it would be so expensive to replicate what’s there for the normal home homeowner, but it’s incredible,” Hubbard said. “And to lose something like that would be a shame.”

The historic home, previously converted to office use, was purchased by Suffolk County National Bank from an individual owner in 1996. It is on a separate tax lot adjoining Riverhead’s Town Hall campus on West Second Street.

Prudenti said the town hall generator is located on the rear of the Slade-Hallett house property and suggested that an easement for the continuation of its placement there be made a condition of the sale.

She suggested that Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairperson Richard Wines review the final RFP, along with the town’s engineering department, before the RFP is issued.

Prudenti also recommended that Joseph Petrocelli, along with town officials, review proposals the town receives. “He did the restoration of the East Lawn building, and he, probably most in Riverhead, has true knowledge of the cost of restoration and whether or not the proposals are appropriate,” Prudenti told the board.

The Slade-Hallett House was one of four buildings acquired by the town from Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation for $20 million in 2023. The other three buildings on the site are: a three-story, brick and glass building constructed in 2002 by Suffolk County National Bank as a corporate headquarters and presently occupied as Riverhead Town Hall; a bank branch building on the corner of West Second Street and Roanoke Avenue, which is leased to M&T Bank; and a two-story brick office building on the corner of West Second Street and Griffing Avenue, which remains vacant. The entire property was purchased by Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation in 2018 for $11.47 million from People’s United Bank. People’s United acquired Suffolk County National Bank in 2017. M&T Bank acquired People’s United in 2022 and continues to operate the Second Street bank branch. The property stretches north to Railroad Avenue and also has a parking lot providing approximately 160 parking spaces.