Developers recommended for Ronkonkoma hub
Possible site plan from developer Tritec, recommended on Dec. 8, 2011, as the master developer for the Ronkonkoma Hub project. Brookhaven Town is set to approve the developer next week and Islip Town has indicated it may do the same in early 2012. Credit: Tritec
A Brookhaven design committee plans to recommend the seasoned developers behind the Patchogue New Village development and the Stony Brook Technology Center for the massive Ronkonkoma hub project.
TRITEC Real Estate Company of East Setauket was unanimously chosen by the design committee over three other firms. The design board intends to formally recommend TRITEC to the town board at Thursday's work session.
"Tritec has the strongest qualifications among the responding developers and articulated a compelling, creative vision for the Ronkonkoma Hub," the design committee -- comprised of town officials from Brookhaven and Islip, civic leaders, residents and industry experts -- wrote in a letter to Brookhaven Town board members Wednesday. "Tritec has demonstrated the financial strength to successfully undertake a project of this magnitude and a track record of successful development on Long Island."
"We're thrilled to be chosen to be the master developer," said Robert Coughlan, co-founder of TRITEC. "This is an opportunity for us to develop a project that some parts of the country has seen but that Long Island has not had before."
The project aims to redevelop the 50 acres around the Ronkonkoma train station into a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly community. Ultimately, it will link the train station to the nearby Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip.
Design committee members pointed to the similarities of the project's goals to the TRITEC-helmed New Village mixed-use development in Patchogue, which includes 291 residential units, 46,100 square feet of restaurant and retail space, and 18,000 square feet of office space.
"TRITEC's financial ability may have stood out," said town supervisor Mark Lesko, who was not part of the design committee. "Their vision for the site was really what tipped the balance."
The design committee's letter addressed the highlights of TRITEC's proposal.
"Their objectives for the redevelopment include a design that creates a live-work destination with several innovative components to attract young people such as multimodal portal designed in the spirit of the great stations of New York, London, and Paris; plazas and outdoor spaces; and inclusion of visual, musical, and performing arts in the destination to infuse life into the community," the committee wrote.
The next step for Brookhaven is to draft a contract with the company, which may take a couple of months.
