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A whole new community’s worth of townhouses could be coming to the 322-acre, mixed-use Boulevard in Yaphank complex that has been under construction for seven years.
On Sept. 30, the Town of Brookhaven approved an application by AVR Realty Co., the Boulevard’s developer to amend restrictive covenants of its planned development district.
With the amendment, AVR Realty Co. can build an additional 152 residential units at the southwest corner of the site, where was once the old Parr Meadows horse track just north of the LIE and just west of William Floyd Parkway.
That quadrant was slated for approximately 500,000 square feet of office and flex space, according to a representative of Rose-Breslin and AVR Realty Co., Brian Ferruggiari.
Now, the partners are aiming to construct an additional 152 units by way of townhouses, mostly duplexes with some triplexes and quadplexes. This will bring the total number of residential units in the entire complex up to 1,087.
All of the units will be for sale, not rentals, and Ferruggiari said it will be under a separate property owners’ association.
The name of the new section has not be decided upon. It will be released when the developer submits a site plan application to the town of Brookhaven, according to Ferruggiari. That’s expected to happen this week.
no need for office space
Ferruggiari said the developer’s reason to axe the office and flex space in lieu of more residential property was two-fold.
“The market for office space in nonexistent on Long Island right now,” the representative said. “COVID has made it even worse, and post COVID, we think the demand for office space is even gonna be less because a lot of people are working remotely.”
Community concerns over the increased volume of traffic associated with the project is another reason the developer wanted to modify the original plan, Ferruggiari said.
“The higher generator of traffic, peak hour traffic, is an office park,” he said. “People all come out work in the mornings and they all go home around the same hours in the evening. So those peak hours in the morning and the evening are much much higher. By changing to a residential use, a multi-family use… we drastically reduce our trip generation.”
a need, a need for trees
At the Town Board meeting, J. Timothy Shea Jr., a real estate lawyer representing the developer, said the application for amendment to restrictive covenants came with added benefits for the community, as well as the Town of Brookhaven.
Shea said the applicant has agreed to dedicate approximately 152 acres of core Pine Barrens just east of the project in Manorville — one acre for each newly proposed unit — to the Town of Brookhaven.
“Can you say that again?” Supervisor Romaine said immediately after Shea spoke. “That’s like music to my ears.”
