Town Board to vote on Rechler extension Thursday

The Riverhead Town Board will vote on a measure Thursday morning to give Rechler Equity Partners three more months to decide if they want to go forward with their proposed $18 million purchase of 300 acres at the Enterprise Park at Calverton.
But it will come at a price.
Under the contract the town has with Rechler, who is calling its industrial project REPCAL, Monday was the deadline by which the company was to decide if it wanted to extend its contract with the town by another six months, according to town attorney Dawn Thomas. The group would have to pay the town $250,000 to do so, and that money, which would come off the overall purchase price, would be held in escrow, Ms. Thomas said.
Rechler has asked for more time to make that decision, and the Town Board is scheduled to vote on a resolution Thursday morning that would give Rechler another three months to decide on the six month extension,  at a cost of $125,000, which would be non-refundable and would go directly to the town, Ms. Thomas said.
The proposed amendment to the contract does not address proposed uses at the site. Rechler earlier this year asked the town to consider changing the proposed uses at the site to allow some residential and retail uses, although Town Board members later said they opposed that.
Ms. Thomas said the $125,000 would also come out of the overall $18 million if the deal closes.
Rechler Equity Partners first went to contract with the town in 2007 to buy 300 acres of light industrial land at EPCAL for $35 million, but it convinced the town in 2009 to drop the price to $18 million, citing the economy.
Rechler’s original plans call for building a 2.7 million square foot high-tech industrial park on the 300 acres in a development that would be phased in over 10 years.
Rechler had said the 300 acres would generate some 3,700 construction jobs and 7,650 permanent jobs over 10 years. 
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