First hearing set on Melville Crossing development plan

A public hearing has been set for next month on the first proposal to build in the Melville Town Center Overlay District — a plan that could transform a light industrial area of Huntington Town with the addition of hundreds of housing units.  

Steel 75 Maxess LLC, a Bethpage-based company, last year applied to the town to build Melville Crossing. The proposal calls for more than a dozen buildings with condos, rental units and retail shops on 16.62 acres at the northeast corner of Maxess Road and Corporate Center Drive. Empty parking lots take up much of that space now.

The overlay district was established in December 2024 for mixed-used development in certain light industrial areas of Melville. The district, south of the Long Island Expressway and east of Route 110, eventually could have up to 1,500 housing units.

The Huntington Town Board voted 5-0 at its meeting last week to hold the public hearing March 19 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 100 Main St. 

Board member Dave Bennardo, who sponsored the resolution to set the hearing, said the “cooperative nature” of discussions the developer has had with both the Half Hollow Hills School District and the town’s planning board made him feel comfortable voting to set the hearing. 

“Now, a lot of things have to happen for me to vote for the project, and who knows what that will look like,” he said.

A June 2024 letter posted to the school district's website said district officials were concerned about projected student enrollment increases and any payments in lieu of taxes or tax reductions the town or the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency may offer developers.

Town board member Brooke Lupinacci, who beginning in April 2024 cited lack of information in voting against measures surrounding the introduction of the overlay district, said she would vote for the public hearing.

“Now that a plan has been submitted, there’s an actual proposal before us that can be considered,” Lupinacci said before the vote. “I remain committed to a fair, impartial and careful evaluation of the project proposed.”

Details of the plan

The plan calls for building four 4-story condominium buildings with a total of 110 units. In seven other buildings of either three or four stories, the company would build a total of 290 rental units, including 40 live-work units.

Four of the rental buildings would have a ground floor with retail and/or commercial space. The rental units would be a mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments with a limited number of two-bedrooms units, according to Steel officials.

The proposal also includes three stand-alone retail structures and two kiosks that would all face the roadways. It also includes a 1-story clubhouse with a pool. The community would include landscaping, surface parking and private garages, Newsday previously reported.

Russell Mohr, vice president of development for Steel Equities, said the company has met with civic groups over the last few months, received positive feedback and looks forward to hearing from the public.

“Like any successful project, these projects are a public-private partnership,” he said. “I think it’s the transparency between the developer and the community groups that will bring this project to approval.”

He noted that an expanded environmental report has been posted on the town’s website to allow residents to review it before the hearing. Since the project was first proposed, critics have said a comprehensive environmental study of the property was not conducted.

Lawsuits filed last year

Two Article 78 lawsuits, citing environmental concerns, were filed last year against the Town of Huntington to overturn the approval of the overlay district. An Article 78 lawsuit is used to challenge state and local government decisions.

The first case, filed on behalf of Town of Huntington residents Dorothea Fitzsimmons and Dominick Feeney Jr., was dismissed by the court.

The second, filed by the Southold-based Long Island Oyster Growers Association and Babylon-based Open Water Enterprises LLC, is still being decided.

The Sweet Hollow Civic Association declined to comment through a spokesperson. The Half Hollow Hills School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Melville resident Dennis Morea, a member of two local civic organizations, said in a phone interview he is mostly in favor of what Steel Equities is proposing.

“I’m excited about the prospect of somebody actually putting a shovel in the ground,” Morea said. “In my opinion, this first one is going to be the standard, so it needs a lot of community feedback and they need to accommodate that feedback.

“Whatever gets done there is going to be how the others are going to move forward, so we have to be especially vigilant," Morea said.

By Deborah S. Morris

deborah.morris@newsday.comdsvmorris

Deborah Morris is a native Long Islander and covers the town of Huntington.