5 Places Long Island Is Becoming More Walkable
One of the biggest constant challenges for community leaders in Long Island is creating more transit-oriented development, enhancing the walkability of the suburban communities connected to New York City by the Long Island Rail Road.
Only 2.5% of the land in the New York area is walkable, and more development along the LIRR corridor walkable to stations could improve the quality of life on the island. Here are five train stations in Long Island where community leaders have come together to approve new transit-oriented development.
Patchogue Station
Downtown Patchogue has a new 291-unit apartment complex, less than a 10-minute walk from the train station.
New Village, at 1 Village Green Way, also has 36K SF of retail and restaurant space on the same lot, developed by Tritec Real Estate, designed by architecture firm Niles Bolton Associates and managed by Bozzuto.
One-bedrooms start at about $2,400/month with amenities including cozy clubhouses, a fully equipped fitness center, outdoor fireplaces and a swimming pool with a sundeck. Along with a Bank of America on-site, retail space includes Hoshi Hibatchi and Sushi, Del Fuego, Arooga's and BrickHouse restaurants.
Mineola Station
Mineola Station has a new apartment building two blocks from the LIRR.
Modera Mineola, 275 units and six stories tall, developed and operated by Mill Creek Residential, and is a 35-minute train ride to Manhattan's Penn Station.
The building is all studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and is LEED certified through the U.S. Green Building Council. Amenities include BBQ grills, bocce ball courts, a club room, pools and a gym/fitness center. Rents in the building start at $2,400/month.
Valley Stream Station
Valley Stream has two new apartment complexes close to its train station.
Hawthorne Apartments, owned and managed by Zeus Capital Management, has 90 rental units surrounding a central courtyard at 125 South Cottage St. with market-rate one-bedroom starting rents at just under $2,500/month. Building residents, living four blocks from the train station, are mostly working professionals in their 30s and 40s with average household annual income over $100K.
The complex is also walking distance from Rockaway Avenue, the main downtown drag of Valley Stream and a 31-minute train ride from Penn Station in Manhattan.
Just on the other side of the train tracks is Sun Valley Towers, a 72-unit complex developed by Alma Realty Corp. A 15K SF Blink Fitness Gym is on the ground floor of the complex.
Farmingdale Station
Farmingdale has a new apartment building spitting distance from its own LIRR train station.
The Cornerstone, developed by Terwilliger & Bartone Properties, is an $8M, three-story, 42-unit apartment building on 40 Elizabeth St. in Farmingdale, built in 2016. Market-rate studios start at $2,045/month. Ten percent of the units in the building are designated for affordable housing.
The building is so close to the train station, marketing materials say residents can wait for the Long Island Rail Road from the building lobby. Other building amenities include a fitness center and rooftop BBQ. The revitalized downtown is walking distance away and has a wide variety of restaurants.
Smithtown Station
Smithtown is getting transit-oriented development on a large lot soon.
The Smithtown School District sold the site of its district offices and adult education center to Tennessee-based Southern Land Co. to build 200 apartment units roughly 500 feet from the Smithtown LIRR Station.
Southern Land promised to build a sewage treatment facility to serve the one- and two-bedroom apartments as part of the deal. Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the school district said it would receive at least $14.77M.
The 13.2-acre site at 26 New York Ave. includes a roughly 50K SF former junior high school building as well as parking lots and ballfields.
