Apartment project to be reviewed by IDA
An application called 203-213 East Main St. LLC — a 165-unit, five-story mixed-use development planned for the former Sears property in downtown Riverhead — was the subject of a public hearing before the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency on Monday, Feb. 5, at 5 p.m. at Riverhead Town Hall.
The applicant, the Metro Group, has now joined forces with Heatherwood and Ornstreet Development LLC on the project, which, if built, would sit in between the 116-unit Riverview building and East End Arts.
Heatherwood has said it plans to own the property and rent the market-rate units should the project be approved.
The proposal calls for 52 studio apartments;, 80 one-bedrooms and 33 two-bedrooms. It also proposes about 6,000 square feet of amenities and retail space on the ground floor.
The developers are seeking exemptions from sales and use taxes in connection with the renovation, exemptions from mortgage recording taxes in connection with the financing of the project, and abatements of retail property taxes consistent with the uniform tax exemption policies of the IDA.
The applicants also said they will create 155 parking spaces.
“We see ourselves stemming the tide of people leaving New York,” Sean Sallie, development director of Commack-based Heatherwood, said at a town meeting last year.
“We’re an owner-operator as well as a builder. We’ve never sold a property,” Mr. Sallie said at that time, adding that they are still three years away from building any retail or restaurant space and want to be flexible.
