Riverhead Town has cut ties with the master developers tapped in 2022 to redevelop the blighted area near the Long Island Rail Road station with housing and shops.
The Town Board at its meeting Tuesday voted to rescind two resolutions related to transit-oriented development projects in the area. The board voted 4-0, with Supervisor Tim Hubbard absent, on a resolution rescinding the previous actions.
The first resolution, passed in February 2022, designated RXR and Georgica Green Ventures the joint master developers of the projects. The second resolution, passed in October 2022 following a public hearing, deemed the developers “qualified and eligible” under state Urban Renewal Law to build the projects and authorized an agreement with the master developers.
But while the master developer agreement was approved by the Town Board, “it was never fully executed and delivered and therefore is not a binding agreement on any part,” the resolution says, quoting a Feb. 26 letter from RXR and Georgica Green Ventures that was the impetus for the town’s decision. (RiverheadLOCAL has filed a Freedom of Information Law request seeking a copy of the letter.)
Town officials offered no details about whether the agreement was signed by either party, or if it had not been signed, the reason why it had not been signed.
The developers had proposed the construction of a five-story mixed-use building with 243 apartments, parking, and commercial spaces on the town-owned two-acre parking lot opposite the train station, and a condominium complex on a Suffolk County-owned parking lot on the corner of Griffing Avenue and Railroad Avenue, across the street from the Supreme Court.
Council Member Ken Rothwell said rescinding the resolutions gives the town a “clean slate.” It’s “been too long” since the Town Board originally designated the joint master developers, he said, and the letter was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“When they notify us of that, that’s basically saying that [the developers are] not responsible for the development,” Rothwell said. “And if they’re not taking responsibility to get going and we don’t have agreement, then I want development there. We need to move forward.”
“So if they’re not our developers, now the next question is, do we put out a new RFP [request for proposals] or do we base it off of the pre existing RFP that was done on it?” Rothwell said. “I think that’s where we’re going, but we’re anxious to get development. So I know that Dawn Thomas has been great,” he said of the town’s top planning and economic development official. She is “trying to put together a plan on how to go forward.”
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Rothwell said it appears the Griffing Avenue building, consisting of affordable, owner-occupied condominiums, will go forward, developed by Georgica Green Ventures. The Griffing Avenue project received a $2.75 million share of the town’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant awarded in 2022. Connie Lassandro, a consultant for Georgica Green Ventures, said in a Feb. 20 interview that she was actively working on the Griffing Avenue project and it could be presented to the town some time this year.
Rothwell said the town has seen “no movement from RXR, and we need movement.”
Representatives of RXR and Georgica Green Ventures did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
“We really want to get these projects going because we need a better tax base,” Rothwell said. “So we’re sad that we had to raise taxes this year, that school costs are going up. So we have to start picking different economic development areas where we can raise a better tax base. And for that project, we really need to get something moving there.”
The Town Board in 2021 adopted an overlay zoning district for the area around the train station to incentivize new development. The overlay district allows increased density and greater variety of uses in the area, including multi-story, mixed-use apartment buildings.
To date, just one building has received approval so far using that overlay district, a five-story mixed-use apartment building still under construction on the corner of Osborn Avenue and Court Street. That project stalled when the developer, G2D Construction, ran into legal and financial difficulties resulting in numerous liens, lawsuits and judgments. An investor in the project said he has taken it over and will complete it. He is also suing the developer, alleging fraud and other claims.
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Riverhead Town’s Director of Economic Development & Planning Dawn Thomas said the 2022 resolutions were rescinded “to reconfigure the project, in any way different than what we were originally discussing.” She said the town has not yet decided whether it will designate a new master developer for the area.
“We’ve come a long way. We’ve worked very hard on these projects,” Thomas said. “It’s just the developer’s analysis, and maybe the board’s thoughts, that something different would be better there.” She declined to elaborate further.
Rothwell said board members have been tasked with generating ideas for the project across from the train station.
“The Town Board is different now than it was in 2022, so there may be some different visions. So everybody, honestly, was asked to write up a vision of what they’d like to see there, and then we’re going to have another collective discussion about that,” Rothwell said. “And I think that’s a great way to move forward.”
The board’s action “sends a message to developers that we are ready. We’re not sitting idle,” Rothwell said. “We don’t want to just be a thought. We’re looking for shovels in the ground, and we’re looking for development.”
Riverhead published a request for qualifications seeking proposals for the TOD redevelopment in March 2021. The Town Board in June 2021 established a committee to review and rate the proposals and a month later hired a consultant, National Development Council, to assist in the evaluation process.
The committee and consultant reviewed six proposals received by the town and selected three finalists. The committee recommended RXR/Georgica Green Ventures “based on its proven record with joint ventures and extensive experience with large-scale transformative transit-oriented developments,” according to the Feb. 15, 2022 resolution designating RXR and GGV master developers.
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