Waterfront Project is Moving Ahead

It's safe to say that Glen Cove's Community Development Agency has a lot on its plate right now. 

The agency, which is the body in charge of directing government funds to public programs and non-profits in the city such as the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club, is completing steps to bring the city's RXR Glen Isle Waterfront Revitalization Project to fruition. 

Kelly Morris, the agency's executive director, explained that most of her time is currently spent coordinating efforts behind the massive $1 billion property remediation and development venture. 

Presently, the project is in the middle of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) phase, which, by law, requires "municipalities to designate a lead agency with the task of examining the prospective ecological ramifications of any action" — such as the Waterfront Project — "that would affect its tax paying denizens," according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Web site. 

In this case, it was the Glen Cove Planning Board that evaluated and gathered comments from the public on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) last summer. The job of the project managers, one of whom is Morris, is to adjust their construction plans so that they address the concerns raised in the process. Altogether, this process involves a lot of discussions by the two parties in series of meetings. The end product of this phase, city officials said, is a Final Environmental Impact Statement, better known as FEIS. 

Matthew Frank, the Executive Vice President of RexCorp Realty (RXR) and another project manager, said the company has been very successful in reaching out to the city, adding that through the rigamarole, RXR "got very comfortable with local community groups."  

Frank admitted, however, that the process is never easy. He noted that RXR had a past dispute with the city over zoning limits — which ended in the reduction of the propose retail square footage and building heights from 16-stories to 10-12 stories — but now "Glen Cove is very behind the project." 

RXR, however, still has more challenges ahead because residents have traffic concerns. But this issue, Frank explained, will be addressed mainly within the design of the project.

RXR Glen Isle Partners, the private LLC that will develop the land, has adopted a policy adhering to Smart Growth, which promotes, among other things, establishing walkable downtown areas surrounded by businesses and residential properties and the use of mass transit. Real estate, RXR representatives said, will also be arranged to reduce traffic as much as possible, considering the scale of the project. A ferry port, allowing the city to have more transportation access to Manhattan, is also expected to be opened.

The project's buildings are also expected to be erected with the intention of gaining Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification, which is granted by the United States Green Building Council. According to Frank, solar energy will be considered, but they will be "looking into the most cost-efficient and economically feasible solutions for the project." He anticipates that the SEQR will be concluded by the summer. 

"We're of the mind that this is the right time to take care of the environmental review," he said. "That way, when the market starts to swing up, we can get our feet on the ground as quickly as possible."