AvalonBay May Get Second Shot on LI

HUNTINGTON, NY-Shot down by the Huntington Town Board this past September, AvalonBay Communities’ plan to build a rental apartment complex here may have a new lease on life. Newsday reported that three members of the board have invited the apartment REIT to submit a lower-density proposal than the plan rejected by the town.

The original $110-million plan for Avalon Huntington Station called for 490 multifamily units on 26 acres, and would have required rezoning to create a transit-oriented district. Some area residents opposed the project on grounds that it would have brought New York City-like housing density to the community, eroded property values and overburdened infrastructure. The Town Board voted 3-2 not to approve the rezoning.

In a statement, AvalonBay VP Matthew Whalen says the company is “very pleased with the invitation to come back into Huntington Station with the support of town officials.” Over the last few days, Whalen says, he “listened carefully” to the positions of town supervisor Frank Petrone and board members Glenda Jackson and Mark Cuthbertson.

“It's clear that AvalonBay has some work to do over the next several weeks to determine if a scaled-down development is financially feasible, but we are taking this invitation to return to Huntington Station very seriously and will review it carefully,” Whalen says in his statement. “It’s important to us that the Town Council support our going forward with this project, and so far I have received very strong indications that this is the case.”

The developer’s 490-unit plan, scaled back from 530 units, would have included 8% affordable housing and 9% workforce housing, according to a fact sheet. AvalonBay also planned to provide $2.25 million in community benefits, including a $1.5-million mitigation fee to the school district. The school board, which originally voted to accept the fee, later changed course, leading Cuthbertson to withdraw his support for the project.