Revitalization Is ‘Here’
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Long Islander News photo/Jano Tantongco
Pictured, from left, are: Ryan Porter, president, Renaissance Downtowns; Don Monti, chairman, Renaissance Downtowns; Councilwoman Susan Berland; Councilman Mark Cuthbertson; Supervisor Frank Petrone; Grant Havasy, managing partner, Blue & Gold Holdings; and Robert Schepis, chief lending officer, Empire National Bank.
By Jano Tantongco
jtantongco@longislandergroup.com
After waiting more than 70 years for the start of Huntington Station revitalization, Dolores Thompson smiled as she and other officials signed the steel beam that would be placed in the doorway that will soon welcome guests to a cornerstone of the renewal plan.
“We actually have started. It’s here.”
So said Dolores Thompson, a lifelong resident of Huntington Station and one of its longtime advocates for revitalization, at last Thursday’s beam signing event that symbolically kicked off the already-started construction at the Northridge project site at the corner of New York Avenue and Northridge Street.
Expected to be complete in October, the mixed-use building will have 6,500 square feet of commercial space on the first floor, and 16 apartments on the second and third floors. Rents are projected to be $2,000 to $2,500 for the studios and one-bedroom apartments.
The building doesn’t have residential tenants yet, but May’s Gourmet Deli, which already has a location on West Jericho Turnpike in Huntington, plans to open its second location on the new building’s ground floor.
“When they took away Huntington Station in the ’50s, we thought we’d never get it back. I was here when we actually had an alive and well community with stores and homes and everything,” Thompson said. “Look at how long we’ve been without it. This is really a blessing.”
The Northridge project is just one of several that make up the overall revitalization plan for Huntington Station that’s been put forth by master developer Renaissance Downtowns, which is based out of Plainview.
“The dream has come true, and this is just a beginning. This is the first of many to come,” Don Monti, Renaissance chairman, said.
Construction, which will cost more than $5.5 million, is being led by the Huntington-based Blue & Gold Hastings. The project is expected to draw $55,007 in tax revenue in its first year, with that rising to $132,016 over the course of 15 years.
Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone said it’s “taken a long time, but it’s happened.”
“We’re going to attract millennials to this facility, and that speaks highly because the station is a hub, the station is a nucleus of people who commute, especially, and that’s who we are looking to attract,” Petrone said. “There was considerable money put into this, and commitment, because that’s the commitment necessary to start the engine of economic development.”
Frank Cosentino, Huntington Station Business Improvement District president, was warmed by the good news of the “start of something.”
He added, “It starts here, next thing you know something wants to go next to it, next thing you know people are fighting to get the next spot. And, things get turned around.”
