Welcome to Riverhead! A revitalized transportation oriented development plan gets the go-ahead.
Development plans were made real with the recent award to Riverhead
Town of a 10m planning grant by NYS Governor Hochul that will jumpstart
the process pf developing a Strategic Investment Plan to secure up to
$300K in planning funds. The town has been dropping announcements
almost every week about development decisions.
Riverhead Announces Master Planner
After reviews of 6 multiple bids and evaluating 3 finalists, Riverhead
officials have chosen a master developer for a transit-oriented
development (TOD) plan which aims to transform the long-blighted train
station area into a pedestrian-friendly center with shops and
apartments. On the drawing boards is a 5-story building with 243
apartments, parking and open courtyard. It is estimated this project will take
4-6 years to build out. The property still has to be secured according to
reporting from The Patch.
Record of Excellence on the East End
Riverhead Town announced that RXR and Georgica Green Ventures are
partnering on the Riverhead development plans. RXR may be best know
for New Rochelle’s downtown revitalization in 2014. They have more than
$8.7 billion in equity raised for projects. Riverhead would be their first
project on the East End. Georgica Green Ventures already has several
projects on the East End, including the Riverview Lofts, a mixed-use
development with 116 subsidized apartments located on the Riverhead
riverfront.
The Back Story
The progress forward has been a goal for a long time. The TOD site is
located within the Railroad Avenue Urban Renewal Area Overlay District,
adopted in January 2021, which allows additional uses and development
density within the Railroad Avenue Urban Renewal Area (designated in
1997) than is allowed by the underlying zoning use district (Downtown
Center-3, or DC-3) for properties within the overlay district that have a
minimum area of 20,000 square feet.
To spur the move forward Riverhead was awarded a $10 million last
month which will be spent on multiple projects downtown including the
town square and the TOD project. The town expects to spend $4.5 million
to offset the cost of construction for a public parking garage near the
railroad station.