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 that 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 an 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 known 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 $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.
