Bid to redevelop Kings Park Psychiatric Center scrapped
BILL BLEYER
Newsday
Yielding to intense local opposition, the state has dropped the latest redevelopment plan for the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center, which called for 1,800 housing units.
The news that another in a series of projects proposed for the hospital grounds had collapsed came at a news conference yesterday at the 368-acre site organized by state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport).
"The prospect of building 1,800 units of housing on this unique parcel of land is permanently off the table," he said. "This is a victory for the residents and taxpayers of Kings Park."
Flanagan displayed a letter from the state agency handling the sale of the property, the Empire State Development Corp., dated Friday. It informed the prospective buyers, Woodmere-based Arker Companies and North Carolina-based Cherokee Investment Partners, that the agency "will not be proceeding with the sale" and the purchase agreement signed Dec. 27, 2004, but not yet closed on "is being terminated ... It has been determined that the premises will be utilized for parkland and recreational use."
While elated by the cancellation of the sale, local officials said they knew of no commitment by the state to use all of the property for parkland. Empire State Development Corp. spokeswoman Deborah Wetzel said yesterday she could offer no further information beyond the letter.
"It would be premature to suggest that anything has been finalized," Flanagan said. And state parks officials said it is too soon to speculate if some of the land would be added to Nissequogue River State Park, which was created in 1999 from 153 acres carved out of the hospital property.
While civic leader Tony Tanzi said, "I think it's a great day for Kings Park," the developers insisted in a statement that they still had a viable deal.
"It is unfortunate that a court will now have to decide the future of a complex that has been an empty, contaminated eyesore for a decade and is now under a legally binding contract where millions in private dollars would be spent to clean up the land while leaving 75 percent of the property available to the public," they said. The state's action "removes public input and community dialogue by making the courts the final arbiter ... "
The contract called for the developers to pay $6.5 million for the site, which has asbestos-laden buildings and landfills polluted by heavy metals from the hospital that closed in 1996. Construction was to be limited to 95 acres.
When Arker made the deal, it was the third company in two years that had attempted to redevelop the site.
Flanagan does not expect the state to advance another plan. Instead, "My intention is to work with the town and come up with a better plan than what was offered." He expects the plan would include a mix of uses including housing, commercial space and recreation.
Town Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said, "We have to focus on how this property gets cleaned up while contemplating whether it ought to be developed."
Tanzi, a vice president of the Kings Park Chamber of Commerce, said that because the developers were responsible for the environmental cleanup, they were forced to propose high-density construction to recoup their investment.
"Eighteen hundred residential units is far too much," he said. "A mixed use of commercial, residential and light industrial" along with some parkland is what residents want because there needs to be a commercial tax base to support schools and downtown businesses.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
The news that another in a series of projects proposed for the hospital grounds had collapsed came at a news conference yesterday at the 368-acre site organized by state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport).
"The prospect of building 1,800 units of housing on this unique parcel of land is permanently off the table," he said. "This is a victory for the residents and taxpayers of Kings Park."
Flanagan displayed a letter from the state agency handling the sale of the property, the Empire State Development Corp., dated Friday. It informed the prospective buyers, Woodmere-based Arker Companies and North Carolina-based Cherokee Investment Partners, that the agency "will not be proceeding with the sale" and the purchase agreement signed Dec. 27, 2004, but not yet closed on "is being terminated ... It has been determined that the premises will be utilized for parkland and recreational use."
While elated by the cancellation of the sale, local officials said they knew of no commitment by the state to use all of the property for parkland. Empire State Development Corp. spokeswoman Deborah Wetzel said yesterday she could offer no further information beyond the letter.
"It would be premature to suggest that anything has been finalized," Flanagan said. And state parks officials said it is too soon to speculate if some of the land would be added to Nissequogue River State Park, which was created in 1999 from 153 acres carved out of the hospital property.
While civic leader Tony Tanzi said, "I think it's a great day for Kings Park," the developers insisted in a statement that they still had a viable deal.
"It is unfortunate that a court will now have to decide the future of a complex that has been an empty, contaminated eyesore for a decade and is now under a legally binding contract where millions in private dollars would be spent to clean up the land while leaving 75 percent of the property available to the public," they said. The state's action "removes public input and community dialogue by making the courts the final arbiter ... "
The contract called for the developers to pay $6.5 million for the site, which has asbestos-laden buildings and landfills polluted by heavy metals from the hospital that closed in 1996. Construction was to be limited to 95 acres.
When Arker made the deal, it was the third company in two years that had attempted to redevelop the site.
Flanagan does not expect the state to advance another plan. Instead, "My intention is to work with the town and come up with a better plan than what was offered." He expects the plan would include a mix of uses including housing, commercial space and recreation.
Town Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said, "We have to focus on how this property gets cleaned up while contemplating whether it ought to be developed."
Tanzi, a vice president of the Kings Park Chamber of Commerce, said that because the developers were responsible for the environmental cleanup, they were forced to propose high-density construction to recoup their investment.
"Eighteen hundred residential units is far too much," he said. "A mixed use of commercial, residential and light industrial" along with some parkland is what residents want because there needs to be a commercial tax base to support schools and downtown businesses.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
This article was
written by BILL BLEYER
and published by Newsday
on Sunday, January 15