Amityville Village LandTek plan envisions apartments near LIRR

The prospective developer for Amityville Village’s LandTek property has given new details about plans for the 2.4-acre site at a meeting with village officials.

Developer Anthony Bartone of Farmingdale-based Terwilliger & Bartone Properties said at a May 19 village board work session that his company would partner with LandTek to build a 100- to 125-unit luxury apartment building on LandTek’s site near the Amityville Long Island Rail Road station. That work would begin after LandTek moves its headquarters from the station to Bay Shore, where it has pledged to invest almost $6 million in a new 10-acre site on Sweeneydale Avenue.

The apartment project hinges on proposed rezoning of the industrial area around the rail station. The Amityville Village Board is considering a proposal from trustee Nick LaLota this month to permit residential buildings within 400 feet of the station platform, with density incentives exchanged for infrastructure improvements. The highest incentives would allow building up to four stories with 48 units per acre.

LandTek owner Michael Ryan said in an interview last week that his company will move next spring, with or without the zoning changes. His company needs more space, he said, but he also senses an opportunity: “I’m 56. When I got married, the first thing you did was buy a house.”

Today, young couples buy or rent an apartment, he added, and on weekends they want recreation, not yardwork.

He and Bartone envision building amenities on the Amityville site like a pool, gym and courtyard, along with triple-glazed windows and extra insulation to dampen train noise.

Rents would be “north of $2,000,” Ryan said. About two-thirds of the apartments would be studios or one-bedrooms, and one-third would be two-bedrooms.

Bartone was co-developer on a $62 million, 196-unit project near the Farmingdale LIRR station that opened in November. That project, which has ground-floor retail space, is 90 percent occupied, he said.

The Amityville project could qualify for reductions in sales, mortgage and real estate taxes, said Babylon Industrial Agency CEO Matthew T. McDonough, who attended the meeting.

“We support the moves Amityville is making,” McDonough said. “We think you guys are moving along the right path.”