Long Island Cheat Sheet: Huntington pulls contract with Bohemia-based architects over fees … & more

Huntington pulls contract with Bohemia-based architects over fees
The Huntington Town Board revoked the contract it had with Bohemia-based DCAK-MSA Architectural and Engineering PC — doing business as Savik and Murray — which had been hired to design the James D. Conte Community Center in Huntington Station. Town officials said the firm was charging excess fees and didn’t advance the project beyond the conceptual phase. Patchogue-based BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers PC will take over the project, Newsday reported. In 2016, the town approved payment of $603,000 for Savik and Murray for the project and about half of that has already been paid out. Savik and Murray had apparently tacked fees onto that amount, forcing the final bill for the whole project up from the budgeted $10 million to a total of $15 million. The community center will feature a full-size basketball court and meeting rooms.  [Newsday]

Blumenfeld Development Group makes another pitch for Nassau Hub project 
Syosset-based Blumenfeld Development Group is again pushing to win the right to develop the Nassau Hub Innovation District project after an initial rejection, Long Island Business News reported. They had initially pitched a $1 billion, 1.7 million-square-foot mixed-use development with housing, entertainment and office space, but county officials rejected it in May. The officials then called for more proposals for the land and have extended the deadline for those twice (it’s now Aug. 17). Nassau officials at the time said they were looking for companies to “complement” a Memorial Sloan Kettering center due to open in the area in 2019. Blumenfeld reps said the firm was recently approached by “nationally respected biomedical research entity” that wants to occupy 100,000 square feet of its development. [LIBN]

Central Islip to get $10M from state to revitalize downtown
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state would be awarding Central Islip $10 million to build housing, commercial spaces and improve transportation in an effort to breathe new life into its downtown, Newsday reported. The governor said he hopes the funds can help attract young people to live and work in the town. The third annual Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant will be used on a two-mile stretch of Carleton Avenue including renovating a former firehouse, building some mixed-use retail along with some housing and maybe even a trolley. [Newsday]

Former Setauket estate of suffragette and WW1 nurse lists
The onetime waterfront property of Annie Rensselaer Tinker hit the market for $3.25 million. Tinker’s father, Liberty National Bank president Henry Tinker, left it to her when he died in 1914. She was a prominent suffragette and volunteered as a nurse for the British Red Cross during the first world war, according to Newsday. The three-bed, three bath home was built in 1956 on the 1.37-acre property, which features 192 feet of water frontage on Port Jefferson Harbor. Donna Spinoso and Joseph Descovich of Signature Premier Properties are handling the listing. [Newsday]

Jericho-based Getty Realty buys six properties for $17M
Jericho-based Getty Realty spent $17M on six retail spaces in South Carolina, Long Island Business News reported. The properties are in and around Columbia and currently occupied by convenience stores and gas stations. Getty’s leased the properties to a subsidiary of Ireland-based Applegreen for 15 years with options to renew for another five years. “This transaction further demonstrates our commitment to growing our portfolio with a focus on acquiring strong operating real estate and creating shareholder value,” said Getty’s president and CEO, Christopher Constant. [LIBN]