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Conifer

Photo by Julianne Mosher

The former Café Bada-Bing finally went “bada-bye.”

Steps away from the train station in Port Jefferson, construction crews began to knock down the former vacant bar on April 12.

Last known as the Bahia Bar & Discotec, the plot will soon be home to a new mixed-use site with 45 units of housing and more than 3,000 square-feet of ground floor commercial space to be called Port Jefferson Crossing.

The company behind the build, Conifer Realty, LLC, joined village officials as demolition began.

Photo by Julianne Mosher

Village Mayor Margot Garant put her hard hat on and got behind the bulldozer, to help knock down its first wall. 

“This is a revitalization project that’s been going on now for many years,” she said. “We’re finally out of the planning process and into the building process.”

This is the first step toward giving Upper Port its much-needed facelift, including revitalizing the train station, building affordable and safe housing for young people and senior citizens close to the LIRR.

According to the IDA, Port Jefferson Crossing is a $24 million project that will construct 45 units of residential workforce housing in the heart of Port Jefferson.

The affordable housing component will be given out based on a lottery system, and will be located at 1609-1615 Main Street, currently the site of two vacant buildings.

“The public private partnership with the Brookhaven IDA, Suffolk County and the Village of Port Jefferson is instrumental in bringing Port Jefferson Crossing to fruition,” said Roger Pine, vice president of Development of Conifer, in a statement. “This is a long-term partnership that will bring continued revitalization to areas most in need in Long Island.” 

Garant added that this project was a collective effort of several state agencies to bring life back to uptown, and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) complimented the mayor for her efforts. 

“Some good things are happening,” he said. “You’re making things happen here on the local level. You’re doing the things necessary to create   vibrancy, to create opportunity to create a place that people will flock to here, right around this train station.”

He said that a mixed-use building like this one will make the region more attractive to young people.

Photo by Julianne Mosher

“We need to build a growing sustainable innovation economy,” he added. “You’re at the fore-front of doing that work and making it happen. And certainly, building more affordable housing in our downtown is key, not only to revitalizing and creating more vibrancy downtown, but to creating a prosperous economy.”

The land-clearing demo will take about two weeks before its ground-breaking event and the actual building.

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Conifer’s revised design plans for the Port Jefferson Crossing apartment complex were approved Sept. 17 after multiple design changes over the past several months. Photo from planning board meeting

Port Jeff’s latest apartment complex has the green light to proceed.

The Port Jefferson planning board unanimously agreed to conditionally approve site plans for Port Jefferson Crossing, a new apartment complex developed by regional affordable housing developer Conifer Realty just north of the Port Jeff railroad station along Main Street.

Jen Sigler, PJ village site plan reviewer, showed off the new renderings in the planning board’s Sept. 17 meeting, where designs have changed somewhat from their original June, July and August presentations. Gone are the red facades on the easternmost portion of the planned building, and overall the color is more continuous. The structure will have one type of external brick and windowed element on the first floor facing Main Street, and a second structure that is connected internally strikes out into the sidewalk slightly with so-called “bump outs.” The bottom brick portion on the eastern-most structure has changed to a grey color as well.

Some planning board members still felt lukewarm about some facade changes. Planning board member Laura Zimmerman was especially miffed, saying that the developer’s incremental changes have not done enough to change the overall cold and barren look of the building toward the southeast corner.

“This is a building that’s going to be there for 50 years, or however long it’s going to last,” Zimmerman said.

Kenneth Garvin, an architect for the developer, suggested they could add more character to the southeast tower on the wraparound. 

Current plans cite the three-story complex will have 45 units in total, 37 one-bedroom apartments and eight two-bedroom apartments. The complex will also offer over 3,100 square feet of retail space. There are plans for a covered parking garage of 48 stalls for residents, a community room, laundry facilities and a gym. 

The board has also asked that the developer give the planning board greater detail and a better price-by-price point for specific costs on the project, though they did approve the developer’s bond amount at the estimated $1,177,947. The board will need to amend the application approval at a later date figure if additional budgetary details are later considered.

The developer had originally asked for a waiver on a payment in lieu of parking and a parkland fee, but the planning board has kicked the decision over to the board of trustees who will make that determination.

Alison LaPointe, the special village attorney for the Building and Planning Department, said the normal PILOP fee is set at $4,000 per space in the C-2 district thanks to a village resolution in 2018, though the parkland fee is set on a case-by-case basis. 

“It is common procedure for the planning board to request a proposed fee amount from the applicant and then upon review the planning board either asks for adjustments to the amount or approves,” she clarified in an email.

Once the number is approved the owner then has to secure bond documents, which are then reviewed by the village attorney, where upon approval the bond documents are executed.

Mayor Margot Garant confirmed in the village board’s Sept. 21 meeting that the board and developer would need to discuss a recreation fee in short order, which depends on the number of apartments and scope of the overall project.

The village still has to work with PSEG on the location of a utility box and utility lines. Port Jefferson has worked with the developer in establishing the creation of Station Street, which is planned to be a one-way road that provides entry to the adjacent parking lots just north of the train station parking lot and just before the initial footprint for the proposed development. 

LaPointe said the costs for Station Street are being shared between the village and developer. The Villages portion of Station street is funded with Restore NY grant funds at a 50-50 match. Certain contributions such as curbing from the applicant are to be partially financed by a state grant received in 2016.

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The location where Port Jeff expects to run Station Street, next to a proposed apartment complex. Photo from Google maps

Plans for an affordable apartment complex planned in upper Port Jefferson continue to make progress with a public hearing set for July 9. If all goes well, the next step would be site plan approval. 

The apartment complex now being called Port Jefferson Crossing would be located directly adjacent to the Long Island Rail Road train station and would take over the property of a now-decrepit cafe.

During a Port Jefferson Village Planning Board work session on June 11, developers provided new details on the project. 

Joanna Cuevas, senior project director for Conifer Realty, said the apartment complex will be a part of upper Port Jefferson’s ongoing revitalization efforts. 

“We want to provide high quality affordable workforce housing,” she said. 

Current plans cite the three-story complex will have 45 units in total, 37 one-bedroom apartments and eight two-bedroom apartments. The complex will also offer over 3,100 square feet of retail space.

“The units are targeted at households earning between 30 percent and 95 percent area median income for Suffolk County, with an average income of $37,000 up to $111,000 for a family of four,” Cuevas said. 

Building amenities will include a covered parking garage, a community room, laundry facilities and a gym. 

The project will facilitate the creation of Station Street, a one-way road that provides entry to the adjacent parking lots just north of the train station parking lot and just before the initial footprint for the proposed development. 

Mark Owen, civil engineer for R&W Engineers in Hauppauge, said the road will also have an access driveway to the east of the building, where there will be a door for the complex’s underground parking. 

Cars will be entering Station Street from the west, then going into the Long Island Rail Road parking lot at the curb cut in and then exiting out onto Oakland Avenue. Developers said they want to get as many cars off Main Street and on their way. 

Members of the Planning Board expressed concern with the amount of cars that could be on Station Street. 

“[Route] 112 gets really backed up down to North Country Road and it seems like it will be a shortcut for the majority of the people who want to go east,” said board member Tom Vulpis. 

Alison LaPointe, special village attorney for Building & Planning Department, said they actually want people to use the new 20-foot-wide street. 

“That’s the village’s hope: As part of our comprehensive plan update, we are very excited that Station Street is going in because the goal is to get as many people off that very busy roadway and away from Sheep Pasture Road as quickly as possible,” she said. “Also [it will get] the Suffolk County bus routes off of that stop right by the tracks — it leads to a significant amount of backup into Port Jefferson Station.” 

A public hearing is set for July 9 during a 5 p.m. Planning Board meeting, which will likely be held remotely online and can be watched live via the village’s YouTube page.