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The Brookport

Rob Gitto. Photo by Julianne Mosher

With the revitalization of Upper Port along with the changes downtown, people are choosing to downsize in Port Jefferson or start up their lives in the new Port Jefferson apartments.

Rob Gitto, vice president of The Gitto Group, said that his sites — and other places developed by Tritec Real Estate (The Shipyard), Conifer Realty (Port Jefferson Crossing) and The Northwind Group (Overbay) — are here to help people.

“That’s one of the big things,” he said. “That we’re trying to keep people here instead of moving off of Long Island.”

The Gitto Group currently has three locations between Upper and Lower Port: The Hills at Port Jefferson, The Barnum House and the recent The Brookport.

In September, The Brookport officially opened at 52 Barnum Ave. — the former Cappy’s Carpets — featuring 44 apartments that were 100% leased. The building is mixed-use and will soon be home to Southdown Coffee on the lower level.  

“By having these walkable apartment complexes, we’re helping the stores and the restaurants by bringing more people into the village without a strain on the parking,” Gitto said. “To me, that seems like a win-win.”

Photo from The Gitto Group

He said he knows the concern about parking, but his buildings — and those of other developers — have created their own spaces on premise that don’t interfere with the traffic within the village. In fact, he said, he knows many of his tenants are taking advantage of all Port Jeff village has to offer. 

“I know that I have at least two tenants here that are taking tennis lessons at the country club,” he said. “They’ve already been here a couple months and are trying to become part of the community.”

Many of those tenants — across all three of his locations — either chose Port Jefferson to establish their roots or had a home in the area and decided to stay but downsize as empty nesters.

“I can’t tell you how many tenants we’ve had, especially in The Barnum House, that moved here with a significant other or met someone while they were here, got married and had a child or children,” he said. “As they got older, they grew out of the apartment, but they fell in love with the community and became part of the community, so they ended up buying a condo, a townhouse or a home here.”

Gitto said they are filling a need that was never met in the community — giving people the opportunity to start up or slow down. 

The Barnum House, which opened 20 years ago this year, still has tenants who moved in originally in August 2001. A mixed building, he said many are young working professionals but quite a few empty nesters as well. 

“You’re checking a lot of boxes,” he said. “It’s easy living.”

A benefit his older tenants mention often is that they don’t have to worry about upkeep — if an appliance breaks or there’s an issue, they don’t have to worry about fixing it. They don’t have to landscape outside, and they are creating a home base for snowbirds who split their time between here and the South.

The Hills at Port Jefferson, however, has some more turnover, Gitto said, due to the type of clientele the apartments attract. 

Located in Upper Port, the Hills was one of the first projects as part of Port Jefferson’s master plan. 

“I do see there being a nice community uptown,” he said. “That connection to Stony Brook University and the two hospitals right there, there’s no reason why that can’t be a secondary community.” 

And in that 74-unit building, Gitto said the majority of tenants are young, working professionals — many of whom work at Mather Hospital, Northwell Health, St. Charles Hospital and Stony Brook University — a 10-minute train ride from the LIRR station across the street to campus. 

That being said, Gitto noted that “a couple of units will turnover” because of the residency programs at these places. 

“I would say 80 to 85% of the people that live there are affiliated with Stony Brook,” he said. 

A fourth project with The Gitto Group is currently underway on the corner of Main Street and North Country Road, where the PJ Lobster House used to stand before relocating. Gitto said that building will be smaller — roughly 36 to 38 units — and planning should be finalized by March. 

Gitto mentioned that there is often concern or comment about the IDA benefits developers receive to build these properties but noted that neighbors need to look at it long term. 

“Although our property taxes might be lower to start out, eventually, when the IDA program is over, we’ll be paying a lot more than this property would have ever given in terms of taxes if it had remained a boatyard, or the carpet store that it was,” he said. “It’s important to people to look at the long term — this is really going to help the school districts to have these tax bases being thrown into the mix.”

While he can’t talk about the other developers’ properties, he said that the addition of families and people into the community isn’t causing a strain on the school district at all. 

“In the Hills uptown, in the 74 units, I believe we have one child who goes to Comsewogue,” he said. 

Overbay

The Overbay apartment complex, which finally opened in September, had been in the process of being built shortly after The Northwind Group purchased the former Islander Boat Center building in 2013 for $1.8 million.

James Tsunis, managing member of Northwind, said that his family was “really excited” to bring a new complex to the village. 

Photo from The Northwind Group0

“The Northwind Group has been in the family business and we’ve lived in Port Jeff our whole life,” he said. “We were really happy to bring a boutique luxury apartment community here for Port Jefferson.”

Tsunis added that the complex also was planned to bring more positive traffic to the downtown retail shops and restaurants — especially since many struggled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“It’s a win for the village in general,” he said. 

Located at 217 W. Broadway, the 54,000-square-foot “nautical style” apartment building consists of 52 rentals, with one-bedroom units ranging between $2,500 to $2,800 and two bedrooms starting at $3,500. 

Each apartment features walk-in closets, custom built-ins, zero-entry showers with rain heads, a fireplace and a flat-screen TV. Other amenities include an 800-square-foot common room and a fitness facility. 

The complex also contains an office area, concierge service and in-building parking with over 80 parking stalls for residents and their guests. 

Leasing, Tsunis said, opened up in fall of last year, and sold out almost immediately. 

“There was definitely a high demand for it,” he said. “We get calls about this every day and we have a long list of people waiting to get in here, which is good —it’s good for us and it’s also good for the village, because it means that people want to live here and that’s a very good sign.”

Jake Biro, Overbay’s property manager, said that like the other developments around the village, there is a good mix of different types of people living at Overbay.

“Honestly, it’s really diverse,” he said. “We have people all the way down to the undergrad at 19 or 20 years old to I think our oldest resident is about 94.”

Biro said the proximity to Stony Brook University and the hospitals helps.

“We get a lot of doctors and nurses,” he said. “But then we also have a bunch of empty nesters — people that are taking advantage of the real estate market and selling their houses right now, then renting for a year or two and reassessing.”

“Port Jefferson has been our home and we want our residents to call it their home,” Tsunis said. “We want to help them try to transition that process as hard as possible and as best as possible.”

Tritec and Conifer did not respond to requests for interviews by press time. 

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Reps of Vision Long Island, Port Jeff Village, former property owners and The Gitto Group were there to receive an award for top mixed use developments. Photo by Kyle Barr

The Brookport complex, the planned apartment and retail building slated for Port Jefferson, was visited by redevelopment advocacy group Vision Long Island and was presented one of its Smart Growth Awards Aug. 12.

Rob Gitto, the Vice President of The Gitto Group accepts a mixed use award from Vision Long Island. Photo by Kyle Barr

At a press conference, representatives of Port Jefferson Village, the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency and developers on the project, The Gitto Group, were present to receive the award for mixed use projects. 

Eric Alexander, the director of Vision Long Island, said that such developments with both living and retail elements were the future for Long Island’s downtowns. The director said the Gitto family has paved the way for such mixed use projects on Long Island downtowns.

“[Rob Gitto and The Gitto] family and his company invested in a mixed use project on a main street long before it was popular,” Alexander said. 

Rob Gitto, vice president of The Gitto Group, said foundations are in place and the outer walls are beginning to take shape. They hope to be constructing the interior by the fall and hope to have people inside by this time next year, barring another coronavirus shutdown.

“We’re going to expand the main street of Port Jefferson further south — we’re excited about it,” Gitto said.

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Long Island started its reopening process Wednesday, May 27, with construction projects like Overbay getting back to work immediately. Photo by Kyle Barr

With construction sites in Port Jeff put on pause due to the pandemic, Main Street has seen and heard a significant lack of hammers and power tools. But as Long Island begins the reopening process, with Phase 1 allowing for construction to start again, local projects are planning their restarts, though this time with additional precautions.

With its skeleton left exposed for the past two months, the Overbay Apartment Complex is now once again set for continued construction. Located along West Broadway next to the Shipyard complex, Overbay started its construction again Wednesday morning.

Overbay LLC, a subsidiary of Hauppauge-based The Northwind Group, has been in front of the project since the land was first purchased in 2013 for $1.8 million. 

Jim Tsunis, managing member of Northwind, said there are no site plan changes from what was finalized several months ago, though it will be some time before he can relate the new timeline for when construction will finish and for people to start moving in.

“It feels great to be back up and running — I’m hoping all other businesses will reopen soon,” Tsunis said. “It’s been an extremely tough time for all residents over the last couple of months.”

Otherwise, in terms of safety, he said his office has received reopening affirmation from the state and workers would adhere to the New York COVID-19 construction safety guidelines, where construction workers try to maintain some distance during operations.

The 54,000-square-foot “nautical style” apartment building will be on the now-vacant site of the former Islander Boat Center building, which was demolished in 2017. 

The complex is set to consist of 52 rentals with each expected to be 1,000 square feet each. Amenities include an 800-square-foot common room and a fitness facility. The complex will also contain an office area. 

Parking will consist of 83 parking stalls for residents of Overbay and their guests. Parking is expected to be located on the exterior of the facility to the side and rear. The property borders a small creek on its southern end.

Another site, the Brookport apartments, is going where once sat Cappy’s Carpets. The area has remained cleared for weeks despite the original building being demolished and pilings already installed. 

Brooks Partners LLC, the company name attached to the project, is a subsidiary of Port Jefferson-based The Gitto Group. Rob Gitto, vice president of the group, did not respond to email and phone requests for comment by press time.

The apartment complex will include 46 units and a set of retail shops underneath. Designs intend it to fit in amongst surrounding stores including the neighboring CVS, whose property is also owned by The Gitto Group. The project is set to have 78 spaces of parking for its residents and for those working in the retail stores. 

Both apartment complexes have received a payment in lieu of tax agreement from the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency.