A look at Huntington Station's Next Phase of Revitalization

The town of Huntington, under the direction of supervisor Frank Petrone, recently selected Renaissance Downtowns LLC to act as the master developer to work with the town to design and implement an action plan for the next phase of Huntington Station's Revitalization. The town of Huntington's Economic Development Corp. (EDC) has worked since its inception in 2003 to develop and implement both public and private initiatives to spur revitalization in the area around the town's main Long Island Railroad Station. The area, once a thriving downtown, was partially razed in the 1960s as part of a never fully realized urban renewal project. The commercial core of the neighborhood never recovered and suffered from economic disinvestment. It stood in stark contrast to the town's adjacent Huntington Village with its shops, theatres, restaurants and active night life for many years. That is beginning to change. The EDC in conjunction with the town and its Community Development Agency has acquired a number of properties for both commercial and residential redevelopment and assembled public and private land to establish a working community garden that has become a centerpiece for the community. In addition, the town is about to complete a $3 million streetscaping program including the establishment of a public plaza along the corridor's main artery Route 110 (New York Ave.) Despite the economic downturn, the community has seen an influx of more than $20 million in both public and private investment over the last few years as a burgeoning Hispanic business community has taken hold. The town board recently approved a change of zone that will allow Avalon Bay to move forward with its application to develop 370 multifamily units just east of the train station. Renaissance Downtowns, a private developer, specializing in downtown redevelopment is acting as master developer in Hempstead Village as well as in Bristol and Waterbury Connecticut. The firm will invest anywhere from a half to one million dollars of its own capital in planning efforts to attract private development to a number of new projects. Don Monti, the firm's president and chief executive will lead the cooperative effort between the town, EDC, community and private sector. Rob Ripp is the chairman of the town of Huntington Economic Development Corp.