Owner of Station Sports in Huntington Station seeks to replace complex with apartments

The owner of a sports complex that is steps from the Huntington Long Island Rail Road station plans to replace the attractions with 65 apartments in two mixed-use buildings.

Huntington attorney Michael McCarthy said his client, Brad Rosen, has submitted a pre-application to the town’s Department of Planning and Environment to build two three-story buildings on the site of Station Sports Family Fun Center on Depot Road.

One building, Gateway South East, at 16 Depot Rd., would be constructed where a miniature golf course sits, while the other building, Gateway South West, would be built across the street at 25 Depot Rd. where an arcade building stands. The properties are zoned to allow mixed-use buildings.

The ground floor of both buildings would be commercial/office/retail. The residential units would be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Gateway South East would offer 31 units and Gateway South West 34 units.

McCarthy said 20% of the units, or 13, would be designated as affordable based on an income formula stipulated by Suffolk County and the town.

Rosen will go before the Zoning Board of Appeals Oct. 9 seeking a parking variance for seven parking spaces for Gateway South West. The town code requires 59 parking spaces for his proposal; 52 are provided.

“The idea of a pre-application is to identify land use and zoning issues that might materialize,” McCarthy said. “In this instance the town identified that the developer needs a seven-car variance.”

McCarthy said if the zoning board grants relief for Gateway South West, Rosen can apply to the planning board for site plan review. He has not yet made an application to the planning board for site plan review for Gateway South East, McCarthy said.

If the zoning board denies the application for Gateway South West, the plan must be modified.

Rosen said he put his “heart and soul” into Station Sports but was never able to break even on the endeavor. He said that after 11 years, he chose not to open the Fun Center this year over dwindling attendance and the cost of liability insurance and property taxes.

He said with sewers being installed in the area, and access to the railroad, this proposal made sense now. The site of the proposed buildings is about two blocks south of the Huntington LIRR station.

“I’m doing my part to ease traffic on the roads by building near the railroad and have people take mass transportation,” Rosen said, adding that many downtowns on Long Island such as Patchogue and Port Jefferson are building housing near train stations.

Frank Cosentino, president of the Huntington Station Business Improvement District and owner of County Line Hardware in Huntington Station, said he thinks Rosen’s plan would be an improvement to that area of the hamlet.

“I think the area could use what he is proposing,” Cosentino said. “It’s close to the [LIRR] station; the apartments will attract people with jobs and money.”

The Oct. 9 zoning board hearing will be at Town Hall, 100 Main St., at 6 p.m.