Open space or development: Sunrise takes steps forward after yearslong stall

Plans for a two-story assisted living and memory care facility to be built on the corner of Old Bridge and Pulaski Roads in East Northport are taking a step forward after the project was put on temporary pause in 2023. 

A site plan application for the facility, Sunrise of East Northport, was approved by the Town of Huntington’s planning board in October of 2022 but the building permit process and “tightening of the debt markets” caused delays, Philip Kroskin, SVP of Real Estate for Sunrise Senior Living, told the Journal when asked for updates on the project. 

Sunrise officials were originally hoping to break ground at the end of 2022, a date that got pushed to mid-2023. Sunrise recently submitted to the Town of Huntington (TOH) a revised plan for the East Northport facility with minor architectural changes to the building design; planning board members showed no objections when the changes were discussed at an August 6 meeting. 

In an August 18 email, Kroskin told the Journal that Sunrise’s goal is to begin work sometime in the first or second quarter of 2026. “We are actively working towards a construction commencement on the project,” he said. In order to proceed with construction on the site, Sunrise will have to apply for a building permit. 

Minutes from a May Town of Huntington Environmental Open Space and Park Fund (EOSPA) meeting indicate that, while the project sat dormant, the county’s Department of Economic Development and Planning was looking to acquire the parcel, with mentions of a possible dog park being considered for the location.

Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine confirmed in June that the county was conducting appraisals on the parcel, an early step in the open space process. Requests by the Journal for a more recent update have not yet received a response. 

According to Christine Geed, director of communications for the TOH, “the open space process can move concurrently with the development process, but is independent of it. It is not unheard of for a property owner to consider the different options.” Suffolk County was looking at acquiring the property, she said, and had asked if the town would be interested in partnering.

The discussion during the EOSPA meeting was meant to take a temperature check about the possible partnership, Geed stated, adding that there was a soft show of encouragement depending on how the county progresses.

Nothing can be certain about the future of the property until Sunrise begins construction, Geed said, “but this is the stage at which applications are usually held up while a developer decides whether or not to proceed. The drawings involved with the building permit are costly, so a building permit application is usually a good sign of an intent to build.”