When it comes to developing anything on Long Island, it can take years from concept to completion.
And when it comes to creating transformative, large-scale projects here, it can take a decade or even longer just to get them started.
Out of the four major mixed-use developments – representing more than $7 billion – that are currently on tap for Long Island, only one is well underway.
Development executives for each of these projects provided updates at last week’s Smart Growth Summit, organized by Vision Long Island.
Here is the latest status report on those big projects, including what they promise to deliver, where they’re at now and when we might expect them to blossom.
Station Square
Also known as the Ronkonkoma Hub, Station Square is the only one of these four major mixed-use developments that is well into its first phase of construction.
In fact, some people are already living in the apartments in the $700 million project’s first three residential buildings, which opened in the last few months, two years after master developer Tritec broke ground.
First pitched in 2011, the transit-oriented redevelopment aims to transform 53 acres around the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station. The Town of Brookhaven approved the uniform building codes and urban renewal status for the massive Ronkonkoma project in 2014.
At full build-out, Tritec’s redevelopment is slated to include 1,450 residential units, 195,000 square feet of retail space, 360,000 square feet of office/commercial space and 60,000 square feet of flex space to be utilized for conference, exhibition, hospitality, and/or residential uses.
The project’s first phase includes three rental buildings at the recently opened Alston Station Square, which will be joined by three more buildings in the next few months, bringing a combined 489 apartments to the development.
Tritec officials said they are preparing to file a site plan for Station Square’s phase two by the end of the year and hope to begin building the second phase in the first half of 2020. Phase two will bring another 400 residences and 150,000 square feet of retail, including a specialty grocer, several restaurants and a movie theater. Future phases at Station Square will likely include an assisted living facility and a 125-room hotel within its mix of residential, office, retail and entertainment uses.
“This is a culmination of all of our recent revitalization efforts in other downtowns like Patchogue and Port Jefferson,” said Chris Kelly, Tritec’s vice president of marketing. “It also shows how big things can get done when the public and private sectors collaborate.”