Friday morning we had developer David Wolkoff speak at LIMBA. Mr. Wolkoff’s family has been planning an enormous development that is essentially a new village. The plan was conceived over 12 years and the SEQRA process has been tedious, along with some opposition to the effort. David began by stating that the Long Island region is dying. He pointed out that we are losing our young people and the trend does not bode well.

Heartland is the name of the development and it encompasses 400 acres. The plan is to have 9,000 rental units of which 10% will be affordable housing. These will be one bedroom apartments. However larger apartments can be configured by combining two or even three units. There will be commercial space and lastly there will be retail space. The idea is to have a walkable community with much of the needs of the residents being met within the confines of the area. This will be a place where many people who work there will also live there and shop there. The plan calls for some buildings being 13 stories. That provision is acceptable in the amended code. Wolkoff foresees the establishment of frequent public transportation using an electric bus system.

As far infrastructure is concerned the property falls within the service area of the Southwest Sewer District. Other infrastructure will be built out in phases, as will the entire building program. This is long term plan with the total build-out expected to take 30 years.