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The Huntington Shopping Center on Route 110 is slated for a $40 million makeover, and we’ve got the details.
Much of the existing Huntington Shopping Center, from Applebee’s to Buy Buy Baby will be demolished, welcoming a new structure with a Whole Foods grocery store as the anchor tenant, the plan goes.
But the site plan for the project must still be approved, which Paul Mandelik, chairman of the town Planning Board, described as “very close to being ready” after it was modified following the Zoning Board of Appeals’ input.
“Currently, it’s an old, dilapidated, outdated shopping center,” Mandelik said of the 59-year-old plaza.
Earlier this month the Planning Board unanimously approved the architectural renderings and posed no objection to Federal Realty Investment Trust — the Maryland-based real estate firm that owns Huntington Shopping Center — filing for building permits through the town’s building department.
The renderings boast a wealth of updates to landscaping throughout the project.
The most notable change is a 40-foot landscape buffer on the New York Avenue side of the property where there currently sits what was described in the meeting as an unsightly dumpster-laden ground.
The designs are highlighted by fresh facades, new outdoor seating areas, wider sidewalks for shoppers to stroll down the new catty-corner structure.
While it will appear to the eye as a single building, the reconstruction will actually consist of two structures connected at a point, according to the notes of Christopher W. Robinson, president of R&M Engineering, a Huntington-based firm working on the renovations, prior to a September ZBA meeting.
Behind the connection, there is a proposed outdoor storage area for snow removal and maintenance equipment.
Plans also call for two new, 8,000 square-foot. standalone buildings, which could feature restaurants or “higher-end boutique retail” said a representative for Federal Reality, Michael McCarthy, during the ZBA meeting.
McCarthy said that while the plans appeared, “busy,” the redevelopment actually reduces the retail space by about 22%. It was during this meeting he also mentioned Federal’s willingness to spend “in excess of $40 million” on the project.
A Whole Foods Market spokesperson confirmed the grocer chain from Austin, Texas, is developing a Huntington location, but declined to offer any additional information.
It is still unclear what the immediate plans are for the existing tenants, which includes Ulta Beauty, Inc., Tillys, Michaels Companies, Inc., PetSmart and Nordstrom Rack, the latter of which will shut its doors within two weeks of May 28, according to a company filing with the New York State Department of Labor.
Neither Federal Reality nor R&M Engineering responded to Greater Long Island’s request for comment.
