Renaissance To Alter Gateway Plaza Plan
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A rendering released last month by Renaissance Downtowns shows the proposed Gateway Plaza project.
By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com
Huntington Station master developer Renaissance Downtowns has altered the apartment makeup of its planned Gateway Plaza building.
The developer originally called for the 15,000-square-foot mixed-use building that’s planned for 1000-1026 New York Ave. to sport retail space on its first floor, and 33 studio and 33 one-bedroom apartments across its second and third floors.
Instead, Renaissance Downtowns President Ryan Porter said Wednesday that there are plans for the building’s upper floors to include 10 studio, 45 one-bedroom and 11 two-bedroom apartments, along with the retail space on the ground floor.
At Tuesday’s town board meeting, Huntington Station resident Matt Harris raised concerns with the board.
“The people of Huntington Station have been lied to for 48 years,” Harris said. “Developer after developer after developer has lied to us — and now Renaissance is doing it.”
Porter said the change did not “just pop up… We have been talking about it for months.”
He cited feedback from brokers working on the developer’s neighboring Northridge building that was recently completed; shifting economic factors; and community input as reasons for the change.
Porter added that Huntington-developer JDJ Gateway JV “was looking at a shift to make the economics work because of the large amount of union participation that is going to take place and the cost involved in that.”
Councilman Eugene Cook said at Tuesday’s meeting that he was upset when he learned of the change in the apartment configuration. “I voted on the project for the studio apartments,” Cook said.
Supervisor Chad Lupinacci added after the meeting that the changes “are something we want to look into.”
Councilman Ed Smyth said in a phone call yesterday he only learned about the apartment changes over the weekend while reading about Suffolk IDA tax breaks awarded to the developer of the Gateway building.
“I was surprised, to say the least, that the configuration of the building has changed — and it’s not an insignificant change. It changes the character of it entirely… It’s a different building then the one they proposed,” Smyth said. Smyth voted against the town board’s move last month to convey town property to the developer for the construction of the Gateway building.
Cook, Lupinacci and Smyth each said the issue has been referred to the town attorney’s office, which will determine if new approvals must be issued in order for the changes to be made.
Gateway Developer Gets $2.58M Tax Break
The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency preliminarily approved last week plans to award $2.58 million in tax exemptions and abatements to the Huntington-based developer behind Huntington Station master developer Renaissance Downtowns’ Gateway Plaza project.
The tax breaks were awarded to JDJ Gateway JV, which is headed by Gregory DeRosa. The breaks were given for the construction of the $21-million Gateway Plaza project, which is planned to break ground at 1000-1026 New York Ave. this winter.
The 1000 New York Avenue site where developers plan to build the three-story mixed-used Gateway Plaza in Huntington Station.
The Suffolk IDA transaction considers sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions and real property tax abatements. The Suffolk IDA estimated the mortgage recording tax exemption at $158,522, and the estimated sales tax exemption at around $774,791. The mortgage recording tax and sales tax exemptions would take place during the acquisition and construction phases, according to the Suffolk IDA.
Proposed abatement of property taxes on improvements starts at 60 percent of taxes and decreases at 4 percent per year over 15 years, according to the Suffolk IDA. The total property tax abatement savings over the 15-year period would be around $1.65 million.
Taxes collected on the site as it currently stands are $66,861 per year, and are estimated to total around $1 million over the next 15 years if the Gateway project is not constructed, according to the Suffolk IDA.
If Gateway Plaza is constructed, the Suffolk IDA agreement estimates that the developer will continue to pay an estimated $3.5 million in PILOTs, or payments in lieu of taxes, on the property.
