Ribbon-Cutting For 45 New Mixed Income Apartments In Riverhead

RIVERHEAD, NY — The mood was celebratory Monday as a crowd turned out at East End Arts in Riverhead for a ribbon cutting to mark the completion of Peconic Crossing, which will provide 45 mixed use apartments in downtown Riverhead.

Community Development Corporation of Long Island and Conifer Realty, LLC teamed up to create the new development, located at 11 West Main Street; a lottery was held earlier in the year with a focus on artists and those who have survived Superstorm Sandy.

"Complementing the community’s ongoing redevelopment efforts, Peconic Crossing is an important component of the revitalization development in downtown Riverhead providing sorely needed workforce housing," according to CDC Long Island.

New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul attended the event, as did Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Riverhead Town Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith, Betsy Mallow, executive deputy commissioner and chief operating officer at NY State Homes and Community Renewal , Gwen O’Shea, president and CEO of CDCLI; Joan Hoover, executive vice president of Conifer Realty; Kevin Law, the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council co-chair and Long Island Association president, and other officials.

"It was really just a fantastic day — and, in particular, being we were kicking off Thanksgiving week, it gave us all an opportunity to take pause and to give back," O'Shea said after the event.

"Bringing a project of this scale and complexity to fruition. . .and making sure the project stays financially sustainable for a lifetime, takes a lot of partners," she added, explaining that a cross section of stakeholders and leaders involved in the project attended the ribbon-cutting.

After the ribbon cutting, a tour was given of the building, including a commercial artists' space and a communal terrace. "We're the only workforce housing project that has water views on Long Island," O'Shea said.

In addition, residents can take out kayaks and enjoy the Peconic River, she said.

The project, she added, "incorporates the strengths of a community," with a spotlight on the artists' community in Riverhead. At the lottery, O'Shea said, of 900 applications, 90 were from artists, and 20 of which were from those who survived the hardships of Superstorm Sandy.

"We're proud of the fact that we were able to reach out to artists and those impacted by the storm," she said.

After the lottery, applications were reviewed; some incomes may have changed, which is reflected in who was ultimately selected for the apartments. "It's all about timing," O'Shea said. "The key piece is that everyone is income eligible."

The new development, she said, is fully occupied.

"The other piece is that it fits within the downtown. That's something that CDC Long Island and Conifer prides itself on —making sure it works with and for the community," O'Shea said.

The new project, she added, will serve as a "catalyst" in downtown Riverhead, which has already seen tremendous growth with successful ventures including East End Arts, the aquarium and the Suffolk Theater, she said.

"This helps attract additional business because Riverhead is seen as a destination," she said.

Law and Bellone reinforced that belief at the event, explaining with the Long Island Rail Road's Third Track evolving, Riverhead will grow as a destination. Peconic Crossing, O'Shea said, will help to bring new commercial revenue to the area.

In June, after months of anticipation, CDC Long Island and Conifer Realty, LLC held a lottery at Riverhead Town Hall to make dreams come true.

The lottery was organized to select residents and establish a waiting list for the 45 brand new affordable apartments that were nearing completion on West Main Street.

The five-story building that also features a fitness center and laundry facilities.

"Residents will enjoy walking or biking to work, restaurants, shops and more. Peconic Crossing will create spacious energy-efficient, one and two bedroom apartment homes," developers said.

Peconic Crossing will also offer gallery space available for residents to Create - Collaborate - Live, with preference given to artists and those displaced victims of a covered storm including, but not limited to, Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

The one bedroom apartments will be rented for $976 to $1,159 and the two bedrooms, for $1,169 to $1,562, according to plans.

Of the large number of applications, O'Shea said: "This tremendous response reinforces the demand for our collective efforts to create attainable housing in downtown communities, and to provide stable homes for our diverse community members – artists, seniors, singles, families, and displaced storm survivors," she said.

Conifer Regional Vice President Betty Perry greeted all of the lottery participants and explained that all names would be drawn and numbered, that applicants would be notified by mail of their lottery number, and that screening and determination of artist and storm preference would begin shortly after.

As excitement mounted Conifer staff supervised the drawing of names and input the information into a database.

The first applicant drawn who was present in the room was Frances Twyman, a local resident.

"Most of my income goes towards rent now," she said. "I'm retired, but I'm forced to work part-time to make ends meet."

Julie Morris was the first artist drawn in the room. "I feel incredibly lucky to have been selected for the possibility of getting an apartment that's affordable and supports artists."

Artist Katherine Silvestro agreed. "I've been looking a better apartment for at least a year. This is a weight lifted off my shoulders. It's impossible for a single young mother who's a business owner to get a home. I'll be a lot closer to work, and I'm very interested in the downtown area and the galleries."

"It is critical for Suffolk County to support these types of transit oriented, smart growth developments that take advantage of our vibrant walkable downtowns," said Bellone. "Peconic Crossing provides our residents with attainable housing and builds upon our constant effort to grow our economy."

Recognizing the role of art in creating and supporting a vibrant downtown, Jens-Smith said Riverhead is looking forward to welcoming new artist residents and their "creative energies" to Main Street.

"We know they'll enjoy both the inspiration of living alongside the river and Grangebel Park as well as the convenience of our downtown district," Jens-Smith said.

Funding and incentives for the new housing were provided by NYS Empire State Development, NYS Homes and Community Renewal, the Governor's Office of Storm Recovery, Suffolk County, the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency, Capital One Bank, Community Development Trust, JPMorgan Chase, TD Charitable Foundation, CDCLI Funding Corporation and others, town officials said.

Patch photos courtesy Community Development Corporation of Long Island.