Apollo requests condemnation
Town seeks clarification before exercising eminent domain right
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Apollo Real Estate Advisors sent a letter Monday formally requesting that Riverhead Town use eminent domain to acquire several downtown buildings and then re-sell the buildings to Apollo.
But the letter was sent back for Apollo to clarify certain issues, according to Supervisor Phil Cardinale.
Mr. Cardinale said the town needs clarification on exactly which properties Apollo wanted the town to condemn and whether Apollo would appear at a Town Board work session this month to show what their revised plans now look like.
Apollo was designated a master developer for downtown Riverhead in 2006, in an agreement that gives them the option of requesting condemnation.
They were one of several companies seeking that designation.
The initial Apollo plans called for a hotel and apartments on the north side of Main Street and apartments, restaurants and stores on the town parking lot by the Peconic River. The company purchased the former Woolworth building and later substituted a hotel for the apartments planned for that location. Apollo also dropped plans to build on the south parking lot and instead sought to acquire private property on the south side of Main Street.
To date, Apollo has not acquired any property on the south side of Main Street. The company negotiated with Riverhead Resorts, which owns seven buildings there, but talks stalled.
Mr. Cardinale said he was prepared to ask the Town Board to give Apollo a deadline by which to request condemnation.
After weeks of waiting for the request, Mr. Cardinale said, it arrived Monday.
While Apollo has negotiated with Riverhead Enterprises, Mr. Cardinale said he wanted it formally stated in their letter whether they want the condemnation to also include several other properties not owned by Riverhead Enterprises, including the former West Marine, Swezey's, and Dinosaur Museum buildings, all of which are vacant.
Mr. Cardinale said Apollo has also indicated it would be interested in acquiring the Suffolk Theatre if the town reacquires it through a reverter clause in the contract by which the town sold that building three years ago. The reverter called for the theater renovation to be complete by Feb. 18, 2008, which is not likely to happen. The theatre's owner, Bob Castaldi, has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the reverter from being enacted.
Mr. Cardinale said he will not make the Apollo letter public until the clarifications are addressed.
He also said the town and Apollo will need to discuss issues pertaining to infrastructure improvements, a proposed parking garage in the parking lot behind the Woolworth building, and additional improvements to the park along the Peconic River.
The issues regarding the parking lot and infrastructure concern who will be responsible for funding those projects, Mr. Cardinale said.
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