Zenith Group seeks to add apartments, commercial space to already-approved plan

The developer of a proposed four-story mixed-use apartment building on McDermott Avenue is seeking town approval for an expansion that would add more apartments and commercial space to the project.

Known as the Zenith Building, the project received final site plan approval from the Town Board in July 2023. The original plans included approximately 2,100 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and nine residential apartments — three two-bedroom units and six one-bedroom units — as well as amenity spaces on the upper floors. A two-story home is slated to be demolished to make way for the development, which will be built on a 0.12-acre parcel on McDermott Avenue.

Since that approval, the Zenith Group has acquired a vacant 0.06-acre property at the eastern corner of McDermott and East Main Street, adjacent to the original site. The developer now seeks to expand the project by adding 1,043 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and six more two-bedroom apartments.

The proposed expansion would bring the building’s total to nine two-bedroom units, six one-bedroom units, and roughly 3,100 square feet of commercial space.

At a Town Board work session Thursday, Riverhead Senior Planner Greg Bergman presented a staff report on the proposal, with Zenith Group principal Raymond Castronovo and project architect Martin Sendlewski in attendance.

Sendlewski said the project’s plans had been revised to better conform with the Pattern Book — a planning and design guide adopted by the Town Board for the downtown area — and with recommendations from the town’s Landmarks Preservation Committee. He said the updated plans, to be filed later, include a step-back on the fourth-floor frontage along East Main Street, as recommended by the Pattern Book.

Because the property lies within the Riverhead Parking District, the project is exempt from on-site parking requirements. Buildings in the district pay a tax that funds the maintenance of public parking facilities downtown.

“But I do note that the total amount of uses for the project — acknowledging that the existing building was previously approved — the amount of uses on the total project would require 39 parking stalls per our Town Code parking requirements,” Bergman said. “And they’re providing no parking.”

Sendlewski, who also chairs the town’s Parking District Advisory Committee, has recently expressed concerns in letters to the board about the loss of parking downtown, Bergman said.

“There’s no on site parking here, and with the redevelopment of the downtown area, there’s really no immediate parking in the proximate area,” Bergman said. He noted that most public parking near McDermott were small and time-limited, and that the spaces in the 500-space parking garage proposed for behind the Suffolk Theater will not be free. 

Bergman’s report noted that similar projects in the downtown area have elected to provide parking spaces for apartment tenants. “Staff encourages the developer to revisit the parking plan to support the proposed project,” the staff report states.

The staff report has several paragraphs about parking, but the only fact that matters is that the project does not require parking, Sendlewski said. The advisory committee recommendations only applied to business owners between Roanoke Avenue and East Avenue, he said.

The comments ignited a discussion about downtown parking — which dominated the rest of the conversation. 

Town officials said they would reconsider a bill to require developers of new residential buildings to build on-site parking, or pay into a fund designated for parking infrastructure improvements. The Town Board halted the adoption process for that bill in 2023, after Sendlewski and another downtown business leader on the Parking District Advisory Committee objected during a public hearing. 

Economic Development and Planning Director Dawn Thomas said other apartment developers downtown have elected to build some on-site parking for their tenants, even though it’s not mandatory.

“Tthe Town Board is working hard to make sure that parking isn’t an issue,” Thomas said. “It’s been an ongoing thing. We’ve done multiple studies, and I think we’re making very good progress.” 

The Zenith Building clearly “needs quite a few [parking] stalls” to be successful, Thomas added. “I think that’s the reason other developers provided parking in their own buildings, because to rent an apartment, you don’t want to be walking a long distance. It’s just a practical concern really, I think, that the board is expressing.”

Sendlewski said the size of the developed properties “doesn’t really allow us the luxury of having parking.”

When asked by town officials if Zenith Group would be willing to purchase parking spots in the new parking garage specifically for tenants, Sendlewski said: “Why would I? Why would I pay for parking if I don’t have to?” 

Sendlewski and Castronovo told the board that parking for the building’s tenants will work itself out. 

“There is going to be sufficient parking downtown, as per your [environmental] review and approval,” Sendlewski said. “Mr. Castronovo is well aware of the proximity to his property of that, and has no concern and is moving forward and we’re good with that. The other matters are matters for another day.”

“I just don’t want you to build the building and not have tenants because there’s no parking. That’s my concern,” Supervisor Tim Hubbard said. 

“When I’m done with this, you’ll see, it’s going to be a class act,” Castronovo said. He said tenants would either have parking arrangements made for them or would walk, and that lease agreements would clearly explain the parking situation.