Transit-oriented development

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 developer of the first building going up in a special district created to revitalize the area around the Riverhead railroad station is mired in debt totaling more than $16 million, according to pending lawsuits, judgments and contractors’ liens.

The town is seeking federal funding for: a flood resiliency project on the riverfront; an amphitheater & playground in the town square; public Wi-Fi, security cameras, lighting and signage downtown; and about half the cost of a parking garage in the parking lot north of E. Main St.

The Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to designate joint master developers of the Railroad Avenue transit-oriented development project, RXR and Georgica Green Ventures, a qualified and eligible sponsor under the State Urban Renewal Law.

The joint master developers of the long anticipated revitalization project near the blighted Long Island Rail Road station area in Riverhead presented their financial and development qualifications last night in pursuit of an agreement to develop two multimillion dollar mixed-use buildings on municipal properties.

Is the joint venture between developers RXR Realty and Georgica Green Ventures a 'qualified and eligible sponsor' to purchase the properties near the railroad station for their $117 million transit-oriented development project? The Riverhead Town Board will hold a hearing Tuesday evening to get public input.

The town board on Tuesday voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of a committee it appointed last year to name RXR/Georgica Green Ventures as master developer for the transit-oriented redevelopment, which includes a town-owned, two-acre municipal parking lot located between the State Supreme Court building on Court Street and the railroad station.

Georgica Green Ventures, which is about to be named one of the master developers for Riverhead’s transit-oriented development, already has another mixed-use apartment building planned within the Railroad Avenue Overlay District. The five-story building proposed for 426-442 W. Main St., at the corner of Sweezy Avenue, will have 145 market-rate rental units, a 200-seat restaurant and a retail store.

The mixed-use five-story apartment building proposed for 205 Osborn Avenue gained preliminary site plan approval from the Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday.

The developer proposing a five-story mixed-use building on the corner of Osborn Avenue and Court Street is asking the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency for a 10-year real property tax abatement, as well as mortgage tax and sales/use tax exemptions in connection with its $19.6 million project.