Planet Fitness filling Long Island’s retail vacuum
The developers behind the 93-acre Syosset Park project could soon revise or entirely drop their plans to build 625 residences for the mixed-use development, Long Island Business News reported. The original plans for the site called for a town center with residences; 464,000 square feet of retail, entertainment and restaurants; 200,000 square feet of office space; two hotels with 350 total rooms and a 30-acre park. The area currently contains the former Cerro Wire facilities, the Town of Oyster Bay’s public works facilities, its animal shelter and the former Syosset landfill. Locals feared the new housing would be burdensome for the school district and potentially expose residents to hazards from the onetime landfill and Superfund site. In response, developers led by Indianapolis-based shopping mall giant Simon Property Group, the Garden City-based Albanese Organization and Manhasset-based Castagna Realty plan to revise the housing portion of the project and erect more industrial buildings, since the area is already zoned for industrial use. LIBN reported that such a switch would allow Syosset Park’s developers to take advantage of a hot market for industrial properties, thanks to an e-commerce boom that has created a surge in demand for warehouses and distribution centers. The developers had planned to pay for environmental tests of the area. LIBN noted that last month the Syosset Park Citizens Advisory Committee had selected Bohemia-based Impact Environmental for the task. [LIBN]
