Growing Pains Or Gains: What The Next Ten Years Holds For Long Island

We’ve all seen Long Island grow in leaps and bounds over the past decade or so, and now it seems more growth and development is set to take place.

In fact, it’s reported that suburban Suffolk County is due for a bit more urbanization

Officials report an anticipated 7.2 million square feet of new industry in Yaphank, 3 million square feet of new office space at the old Pilgrim State Hospital in Brentwood and nearly 4 million more square footage of shopping are in Riverhead.

And, its cited as part of a plan to update and upgrade what are touted as five “major growth and development areas” that will include the corridor along Route 110, the Sagtikos Parkway and various areas in Yaphank, Stony Brook and Riverhead.

The study concerning the proposed development of these areas was spurred by local officials and did not include the town of Smithtown, Huntington, Babylon or Islip.

And, while some anticipate many traffic dilemmas and frustrations, local authorities recognize the concern and suggest it will need careful planning and preparation.

Overall, these five growth areas will offer as much as four times more shopping space than currently exists, 82 percent more office space, half as much industry, more hotel and lodging accommodations and approximately three times more housing with zoning and proposals calling for another 38,624 housing units.

Route 110 alone could, they note, provide nearly 40 percent more office space than it does now, according to the study and if the former Gyrodyne property is developed on Stony Brook’s High Tech Campus, it could man another 803,000 square feet of advanced research space by the year 2017.

Riverhead is another area slated for major growth and development calling for significant surges of all types of commercial business.

Yet to accommodate this “advancement”, planners are strongly suggesting more intermunicipal agreements to synchronize and regulate land use and updating local and county all-inclusive plans.

The study also advocates a regular collaboration of state, county and local transportation planners to put into place a satisfactory program for traffic coordination and regulation.

However, some suggest that the proposed plan needs more careful consideration. They note that it was initiated by Long Island’s largest independent commercial real estate firm and that, especially with the region’s commercial growth being “intermittent”, it’s imperative that we (all) consider that just because we build doesn’t mean we’ll attract more residents, consumers or businesses.