After years of planning, eminent domain battles and public debate, what officials say will transform downtown into a destination is at last becoming reality.

We hope they’re right.

There’s reason for optimism. Joseph Petrocelli has a proven record — the Long Island Aquarium and Hyatt Place East End speak for themselves.

An 80-room Hilton Tapestry Collection hotel with condos and ground-floor retail could bring the kind of steady activity downtown Riverhead needs. Add in a public plaza, playground and amphitheater, and you’ve got real potential to undo decades of downtown decline.

But concerns remain, and Supervisor Tim Hubbard’s decision to dismiss critics as politically motivated obstructionists at an August Town Board meeting was unfair and unhelpful. Taxpayers have every right to question major development decisions without being accused of partisan obstruction.

Just three months after Mr. Hubbard praised Mr. Petrocelli’s track record at that same meeting, voters narrowly elected Pastor Jerry Halpin, a political unknown who campaigned on listening to residents, fiscal restraint and greater transparency in town government. Mr. Halpin won by just 37 votes in November. Friday’s groundbreaking may be one of the last times the public sees Mr. Hubbard in an official capacity before Mr. Halpin takes over Jan. 1.

Despite strong objections at public hearings, the Town Board voted unanimously to sign off on the deal. The town sold three properties for $2.65 million without competitive bidding. Whether that was legally permissible under urban renewal law isn’t the question — the question is whether it was wise. Did taxpayers get the best deal? We’ll never know, because no other proposals were sought.

The eminent domain proceeding that forced out Craft’D bar for a $120,000 settlement adds another uncomfortable layer. Using government power to seize private property for private development always deserves scrutiny.

Beyond the initial construction — slated to run through 2026 — taxpayers are on the hook for ongoing costs. Mr. Petrocelli’s firm will receive 7% of construction costs to manage the public spaces, plus $150,000 annually for 10 years to maintain the park. That’s $1.5 million in management fees alone, not counting the construction management percentage. 

Those aren’t abstract figures. They’re real taxpayer dollars flowing to a private developer for work the town’s parks department might otherwise perform.

The parking concerns are also worth taking seriously. Downtown already struggles during peak times. The development includes only 12 underground parking spaces for condo owners. The 80 hotel rooms and restaurant will rely on the planned First Street parking garage. That might work fine — or it might create a new problem.

None of this means the project is doomed. Many downtown business owners enthusiastically support the development. Letters of support flooded in from the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary and East End Arts. They see what Mr. Petrocelli’s previous projects have done for downtown. That track record counts for something.

Friday’s groundbreaking is a milestone, but it can’t be treated as a victory lap. The real test begins now.

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Supervisor Tim Hubbard and his fellow Town Board members looked on with pride as the demolition at 127 East Main St. marked a milestone that has been in planning and discussion for nearly 30 years, the supervisor said.

“A project of this scale does not happen without strong partners and significant investment,” said Mr. Hubbard, who exits his role as supervisor at the end of the month. “These dollars are not only an investment in bricks and mortar, but in our downtown Riverhead’s long-term economic health and cultural life.”

Jerry Halpin, who takes over as supervisor next month after defeating Mr. Hubbard by just 37 votes, also lauded the project.

“From here, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that downtown has the best opportunity to be successful,” Mr. Halpin said. “Whether it’s someone who is currently here, or the new businesses that are coming in.”

New York Secretary of State Walter Mosley joined the ceremony, calling the development a model for community revitalization across the state.

The Riverhead Town Square project is the largest effort backed by the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which provides $10 million grants for community redevelopment.

“We’re now witnessing this community utilizing their DRI to build on its strength while also harnessing its history and its unique charm,” Mr. Mosley said. “They have taken a thoughtful and thorough look at how to carefully curate what the future of this land will look like come this spring.”

He noted that demolishing the 1950s-era building that most recently housed the popular Craft’D bar will open up downtown and create a new gathering space.

“It’s reconnecting this community with its history, its downtown and its waterfront,” Mr. Mosley said. “Because when you honor the past, you learn from the past. And when you learn from the past you are able to make room for innovative thinking and projects that will be transformative, turning a site into a destination that is great to live, work and play.”

Also attending the hour-long event were 1st District Legislator Catherine Stark, state Sen. Anthony Palumbo and Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio, who bundled up against temperatures hovering around 32 degrees on the brisk Peconic waterfront. Former Greenport Village mayor David Kapell was also recognized for pushing downtown revitalization efforts on the East End.

At the end of the countdown, Andy Williams’ Christmas classic “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” played as the luminaries watched the demolition crew begin razing the building.

“When you start to see machinery come in, pavements being torn up and buildings prepared to be torn down you’re actually starting to see what’s happening in real time,” Mr. Mosley said. “The plans you started out in meetings are now being put into action.”

J. Petrocelli Development Associates was tapped to develop a five-story, 78,000-square-foot mixed-use building with up to 80 Hilton Tapestry Collection hotel rooms and 12 condominium units, along with restaurant and retail space and 12 underground parking spots.

The project will also include landscaped green areas, an amphitheater, a children’s playground and pedestrian pathways linking Main Street to the waterfront, according to the town.

Riverhead won the competitive $10 million state grant in 2022 after applying every year since the program launched in 2016.

Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin announced Riverhead and the Village of Amityville as winners during a Zoom meeting with town officials, selecting them from among more than 90 applicants, the Riverhead News-Review previously reported.

The town had previously lost out to other Long Island communities including Westbury, Hicksville, Central Islip and Baldwin.

In addition to the $10 million DRI grant, Empire State Development has given $3.2 million to Riverhead in the last five years for the project through Restore New York and Pro-Housing Communities grants. Riverhead Town also secured a $24 million federal RAISE grant from transportation funding.

“It really is a ‘Hunger Games’ when you think about it,” Mr. Palumbo said as he applauded Gov. Kathy Hochul for bringing the state funds to Riverhead. “I think many people mistake the East End as a place where there’s tremendous wealth, that everyone’s from Hollywood, and those of us that live here realize that that’s not the case. To make this kind of investment in our community is really important.”

Riverhead officials cleared the way for the project in 2021 by tearing down deteriorating structures at 117 and 121 East Main St., located opposite The Suffolk. Removing those buildings opened up sight lines to the Peconic River.

This past September, the town used eminent domain to acquire the Craft’D space, paying the owner a $170,000 settlement. The town has also purchased several additional properties in the area over time.

Once the demolition is completed, Mr. Petrocelli said, subsurface testing and structural analysis of the area will take place before the hotel is built.

That process will begin in the spring and he expects the hotel to be fully completed by 2027.

“It takes generations to change a town; you’re not going to do it overnight,” Mr. Petrocelli said Friday. “Once we have another attraction, now our destination gets bigger and I think the hotel is about bringing people here.”

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“So the town offered this building as an alternative space for us to relocate to while all of the construction is happening on our campus,” said Wendy Weiss, executive director of EEAC. “I worked closely with the town throughout the process, and they’ve been great community partners. They subsidized the move, so it didn’t have to be a big financial burden on East [End] Arts Council.”

The annex building was part of the town hall purchase in 2022. This space will allow the arts school, recording studio and administration offices to be housed in one building. The gallery will remain open through early 2026 for the annual members show. This gives EEAC time to find another gallery space in or around Riverhead.

“We hope to be able to find a new fine art gallery space in or around Main Street, because this building does not have like exhibition space, but it’s great for the school and the recording studio and the administrative offices,” said Ms. Weiss.

The downtown revitalization requires raising the gallery and school to sidewalk level. It also means some buildings will be rearranged and reoriented. This will protect the buildings from flooding and better incorporate them into the overall project.

“The gallery building is going to be moved a bit to the east to allow for a fire lane access between it and the hotel. Then the carriage house building is going to be flipped around and placed behind the school building, and the Fresh Pond Schoolhouse building will likely be placed behind the gallery building,” Ms. Weiss explained. “The entire campus will have fill to create a slope that leads down toward the river, and at the base of the campus will become an amphitheater, which will also help in the water collection.”

The construction also affected this year’s Endless Summer Soiree, which was moved to Saturday, Sept. 13, and is being hosted by Strong’s Marine in Mattituck.

“That is our biggest private fundraising event of the year. It’s crucial to us, maybe even more so … due to the changes that have been happening with the move and disruption operations and everything. It’s nice to see the community come forward to support things and understand,” said Ms. Weiss.

It is possible the Mosaic Festival, which takes place in May, will also be affected.

“We shut the streets down, and everyone does art in the street. We use the town square space for things like that, so we’ll have to [ask the] developers for more precise timelining of whether or not that will need to be relocated. That will be determined later,” said Ms. Weiss.

Overall, the outlook has shifted to optimism, and the move to the annex building is part of that equation.

“We are definitely looking at this as an opportunity. At the beginning, it felt very intimidating, but we quickly came together as a team,” said Ms. Weiss. “We are looking at things as opportunities, rather than challenges. We’ve really embraced it all and look forward to what’s to come.”

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