E. Setauket Firm Awaits Decision on Patchogue Redevelopment Plan

The East Setauket real estate development firm which is behind a controversial plan to redevelop the Four Corners district in Patchogue will have to wait a few more weeks for a decision after Patchogue's village board tabled a vote on the project until March 1.

TRITEC, which is located in the Stony Brook Technology Center on Research Way, has called "New Village" which would include 291 apartments, including 48 units designated for residents making 80 percent or less of the region's median income. Retail space and more than 500 parking spaces are also included in the proposal. The original plan called for a mixed-use development that included a hotel, but Rob Loscalzo, TRITEC's chief operating officer, told Patchogue Patch in January that there is "no financing in hospitality right now." Loscalzo did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

On Jan. 24, Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri announced that the board would postpone making a decision until Tuesday, March 1 at a special village board meeting. He said he was reluctant in holding off on making a decision and that the board as a group has struggled: not with whether or not the Four Corners section needs to be redeveloped, but with the process through which that redevelopment occurs. The board requested the postponement to have the opportunity to meet with TRITEC again.

Pontieri said he was very conscious of the fact that the village has a very unique opportunity. "You don't get people showing up very often who probably have just about a hundred million dollars to invest in the community," he said.

The public took the podium for approximately an hour. Marc Siegel, a Patchogue resident and owner of Blum's, said his concern about the plan was that he wanted to make sure there was enough parking so that it doesn't take up Blum's parking spaces. "Parking is our thing," he said.

Patchogue resident John Havens was concerned that the plan was being rushed along so TRITEC wouldn't lose its funding due to a downturn in the economy. Havens asked the board why this was the village's problem.

"Why is it not Patchogue first? Why is it Tritec first?" he said.

Pontieri responded by saying there was nobody on the board whose main interest was bailing out Tritec, which prompted David Sloane, attorney for TRITEC, to react to the public comments.

"I wasn't going to speak tonight, but when members of the public talk about my client seeking to be bailed out, that is one of the most ridiculous damn statements I've ever heard," he said.

Sloane reminded the crowd that the village sought TRITEC out for the development of this plan. He said the company told the village up front there was no guarantee that a hotel could be built, that the company could sell and bail out now, and that the company had done everything the village asked it to do.

"I don't know what to tell you," he said, "but you're jeopardizing a hundred million dollar investment."

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