Riverhead Town is the new owner of what is officially the former Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) Foundation’s Robert Entenmann Campus on Second Street. The property will soon be home to a new Riverhead Town Hall.
“This town purchase will allow for the much-needed expansion of Riverhead’s Police Department, the Town Justice Court, and enhance services to our community,” Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said in a statement on Wednesday. “We thank the Peconic Bay Medical Foundation for working and partnering with us on this much needed effort in our community.”
The $20 million acquisition of 4-6 West 2nd Street and 214 Griffing Avenue, in the heart of downtown Riverhead, took place at a closing on January 11, 2023.
The transition to the new Town Hall is expected to begin within three months, though the full transition will occur by the end of the year, the supervisor added.
The town supervisor first announced that a deal had been reached to purchase the property from Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation in July when she signed a letter of intent to buy the 4.2-acre property at 4, 5 and 6 West Second Street and 214 Griffing Avenue. The town officially went into contract in November.
There are four structures there, including a 36,000-square-foot, three-story building at 4 West Second Street that housed the hospital’s executive offices. The plan is to consolidate Town Hall, currently spread out across four properties, while also freeing up room in the current main Town Hall building on Howell Avenue for the Riverhead Town Justice Court, which has long been criticized for cramped, unsafe quarters, including staff working out of portable trailers.
The cost of the acquisition will be offset by income the town stands to collect from People’s United Bank, which leases the building at 6 West Second Street for an annual rent of $200,000.
The complex also includes a two-story annex building to the west, which could be leased out, as well as a house of historical value, which Aguiar is hoping to restore and make the town historian’s building.
The acquisition has been said to complement the town’s revitalization plan, while it also affords Peconic Bay Medical Center funds to expand women’s health and ambulatory services.
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