Robbins Lane Project: Major Redesign

The planned 625-unit apartment and condo development “Syosset Park,” planned for the old Cerro Wire property on Robbins Lane in Syosset, is being canceled, and a major re-design is in the works.

It appears the development is not going to be the grand plan originally devised. The developers have decided to reduce or eliminate the housing component and add more office and light industrial buildings to the plan.

The 93-acre site is bordered by Robbins Lane on the west and the LIE on the south, and is made up of the 39-acre former Cerro Wire property and 54-acres that house the Town of Oyster Bay’s public works facilities, the town’s animal shelter and the former Syosset landfill.

Community opposition to the planned 625 multi-family housing units and commercial activity were critical in blocking the original plans. Residents believed the new housing would overburden the school district.

The “Syosset Park” development group, is headed by shopping mall developer Simon Property Group, and Castagna Realty.

According to the Town of Oyster Bay, the developers are now redesigning the proposal for office and light industrial use.

The Town had sold its portion of the Syosset site in 2013 for $32.5 million, and is now negotiating the $2.1 million purchase of a Bethpage property from Nassau County to relocate the vehicles from the Town’s Syosset public works facility.

The new redesign of the Robbins Lane development will reportedly involve “no change of zoning.”

The development has easy access to the LIE, and there is a strong demand for warehousing and e-commerce distribution operations.

Taubman Centers wanted to build a shopping mall at the site, but opposition by the community was strong. Rival Simon Property Group purchased the property from Taubman Centers in early 2014 after Taubman dropped the idea. Simon agreed in May 2013 to pay $32.5 million for the 54-acres which was used by Town of Oyster Bay’s Department of Public Works. The Simon-led development group gave the town $30 million in 2013, which was an interest-free advance for title to the land that has yet to change hands. The developers agreed to let the town use its DPW property for five years and charge them $8 a square foot for the buildings it occupies after that time. The town has been deducting that rent from the $2.5 million balance the development group still owes it for the sale of the property that hasn’t yet closed.