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After completing the first phase of its massive $1.2 billion redevelopment Station Yards, Tritec Real Estate is deep into the project’s second phase, further advancing the creation of a walkable, mixed-use mecca across from the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station.
It’s been 11 years since the Town of Brookhaven designated Tritec as the master developer to reimagine some 53 acres around the Ronkonkoma station. The ambitious project was designated as regionally significant by both the Long Island Regional Planning Council and the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council and the effort received support from the town, Suffolk County, the Town of Islip and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority which formed the Ronkonkoma Hub Regional Planning Alliance in April 2015.
Built on 12 acres to the northeast of the LIRR station, the project’s $164 million first phase called Alston Station Yards was finished in March 2020 and its 489 apartments are 97 percent occupied. This week, residential preleasing began on what the developer has dubbed The Core, the project’s $272 million, 7-acre phase 2A that includes 388 rental apartments and 70,000 square feet of retail space surrounding a 10,000-square-foot village green.
The apartments in The Core are spread across four buildings and contain a mix of studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging in size from micro studios of 441 square feet to three-bedroom residences of 1,477 square feet. Monthly rents start at $2,000 and top out at $5,300.
Amenities include a lobby concierge, business lounge with coworking spaces and conference rooms, fitness center, community clubroom with chef’s kitchen and bar, outdoor pool and courtyard with grill stations and fire pits, rooftop terrace and covered parking garage with direct building access.
“The Core exemplifies the essence of modern Long Island living,” said Kelley Heck, executive vice president at East Setauket-based Tritec. “It’s not just about finding a place to live. It’s about experiencing a lifestyle that resonates with energy, convenience and luxury.”
While the project’s first phase was totally residential, The Core is a mixed-use community that integrates its apartments with restaurants, retail shops, services and spaces for farmers markets, live music and other events.
About 30,000 square feet, nearly half of The Core’s total retail space, has already been leased and Tritec has signed letters of intent for most of the remaining space. A team of brokers from Colliers, including Maria Valanzano, Steve D’Orazio, and Jake Horowitz, have been leasing the retail space at the development, which was configured with the guidance of Anjee Solanki, Collier’s national director of retail services.
So far, Bay Shore-based Great South Bay Brewery leased 8,428 square feet, Vespa Italian Kitchen & Bar leased 5,940 square feet, and Bethpage Federal Credit Union will be taking 1,705 square feet at the Ronkonkoma development. The newest tenants signed include Redefine Meals, which took 1,150 square feet and Poki Poke, which is leasing 1,361 square feet.
“We want to bring the best retail tenants from around Long Island to Station Yards,” said Jimmy Coughlan, Tritec’s vice president of development, who led LIBN on a hardhat tour of the site last week. “The public spaces, programming and the way we’re going to bring the community into the development is exciting to the businesses that tour the project.”
Coughlan highlighted the public accessibility of the newest phase of the Station Yards project. Besides its mass-transit connection, just steps away from the LIRR station, the development will have plenty of parking, with enough spaces for more than 1,200 vehicles. Most of that is provided by a five-level parking structure, which was partially funded by a $50 million grant for parking and infrastructure from Empire State Development.
That assistance was critical for the developer, since Tritec’s biggest challenge in building Station Yards was its huge investment in infrastructure. The company spent about $130 million to make the project possible, including $40 million for one of the largest-ever forced sewer mains and a pump station. The rest of the costs went towards installing water, electric and gas service, roads and sidewalks, and more.
In addition to the state grant, Tritec received economic incentives from the Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency, including a 25-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement to assist the Ronkonkoma project. Station Yards latest phase has created about 2,500 construction jobs.
Brookhaven IDA Chairman Frederick Braun said his agency is proud to play a role in the Station Yards project.
“Tritec is transforming the property adjacent to the Ronkonkoma train station into a true downtown with housing, office, food and entertainment in one place,” Braun said. “Now the people of Ronkonkoma have a destination they can walk to.”
Coughlan said the IDA incentives are needed to assist in competing with areas outside of the region, since the costs of developing projects here are relatively higher.
“These projects and our company have to compete for capital with other projects and investments around the world,” Coughlan said. “The IDA levels the playing field for projects in New York State when competing with projects in lower-taxed states such as Texas and Florida.”
The Ronkonkoma Hub isn’t Tritec’s first major downtown redevelopment project. That was New Village, a $108 million mixed-use project that brought 291 apartments and 15,000 square feet of retail to the Village of Patchogue and has served as a catalyst for the village’s downtown revitalization. New Village was a major contributor to an estimated $693 million in Patchogue’s economic growth between 2000 and 2017, according to a report from the Long Island Regional Planning Council.
In addition to developing New Village, Tritec has been busy with several Long Island projects while still working on Station Yards. The company built the $45 million, 112-unit Shipyard at Port Jeff Harbor, which opened in 2017; and the $103 million, 260-unit rental complex called The Wel in Lindenhurst, which opened in 2021. The first move-ins are expected in November at Tritec’s 418-unit Shoregate development in Bay Shore. The developer also recently served as construction manager for Brightview assisted living projects in Port Jefferson Station and Sayville.
Off the Island, Tritec has been developing a massive mixed-use community on 424 acres in Loudon County, Va., which will bring 2,500 rental and for-sale residences, 4 million square feet of office space and 500,000 square feet of retail space.
Meanwhile, Tritec has plenty more to build at Station Yards, including 360,000 square feet of office space that will be built to suit future tenants. The company has just enlisted a Cushman & Wakefield brokerage team led by Executive Director David Pennetta to lease the coming office space.
“Station Yards represents the future of work and community living on Long Island,” Pennetta said. “This isn’t just about leasing office space. It’s about providing businesses an opportunity to be part of a dynamic, integrated ecosystem that fosters innovation, collaboration and convenience. Station Yard’s unique convergence of structural assets and location offers multimodal connectivity and convenience to tenants. In about an hour you can train to Manhattan, or jet to D.C. or North Carolina.”
Tritec will be Station Yards first office tenant, as the company will move its new headquarters into 16,500 square feet on the top floor of one of The Core’s mixed-use buildings.
The first building in The Core, the 96-unit 1 Hawkins Ave., is expected to open in December, with the rest of phase 2A to be completed in April 2024. Next up will be the 4-acre phase 2B on the west side of Hawkins Avenue, which will bring another 175 apartments.
There could be as many as five phases to the Station Yards project, Coughlan said. Tritec is acquiring properties as it moves further into the development, but it has yet to make a deal with an owner of property along Railroad Avenue and the company has yet to engage with the MTA, which owns a large swath of mostly commuter parking just north of the tracks that is included in the redevelopment area.
The MTA also has property on the south side of the tracks that the developers of the proposed $2.8 billion Midway Crossing project will want to acquire. Still in the planning stages, Midway Crossing aims to create a transportation-oriented hub combining life sciences, medical research, a convention center, entertainment and more, while connecting MacArthur Airport with the Ronkonkoma LIRR station.
Coughlan, whose company also submitted a plan to Suffolk County’s request for proposals for the development in 2017, said Tritec supports the Midway Crossing project, as Station Yards would likely benefit from the area’s increased economic activity.
So far, Tritec is close to delivering more than half of the 1,450 apartments envisioned for the total Station Yards project and will have developed nearly half of the 53 acres in the Ronkonkoma Hub plan.
Coughlan gives credit to the town for creating the form-based zoning code that has helped advance and shape the Station Yards project from its inception.
“The form-based code allows us the flexibility to build the project in accordance with changing market dynamics,” he said.
And the town is pleased with Tritec’s progress on transforming the area.
“Station Yards is a transformative project in the Town of Brookhaven and its success is a direct result of the cooperative efforts of the town and Tritec,” said Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine. “Our vision has created a new community where residents enjoy a modern lifestyle that makes living, commuting and shopping so much more convenient and only a few steps away from their front door. I look forward to its completion and I welcome all the new business owners and residents who now make Brookhaven Town their home.”
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