SEPTEMBER 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 51
BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
TRITEC’S THE WEL
ALL’S WEL IN LINDENHURST WITH NEW
TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
As part of the redevelopment of Lindenhurst,
village officials in 2014 saw a lot of potential
for a property two blocks from Main Street
and across the street from the Long Island Rail
Road station. Tritec Real Estate Company also
saw a lot of pluses for the property that fit its
model of transit-oriented development.
“Working with the Village government
and community leaders, we felt it could
be a transformative project for the entire
downtown,” said Tritec Vice President of
Marketing Chris Kelly.
Tritec began construction of the $103 million
project in March of 2019 and welcomed the
first residents on June 30, 2021 to The Wel,
a development that is now a key part of the
Lindenhurst revitalization.
A 260-unit, high-end residential apartment
building, The Wel is a perfect example of how
transit-oriented development can energize a
downtown with apartments that can attract
eager tenants.
“Our organization has focused on transitoriented
revitalization projects for nearly 20
years,” said Bob Coughlan, a Tritec principal.
“And we thought it would be a great project
in a great community.”
The project doesn’t include retail, because it’s
so close to Lindenhurst’s existing downtown
retail. “We wanted to complement Village
retail by adding disposable income, rather
than compete with it,” Bob Coughlan added.
According to Forbes, 80% of disposable
income is spent within 10 miles of the home,
which Kelly said is “great for downtown
retailers.” Tritec selected products from some
local retailers as new resident move-in gifts,
including local retailer discounts and special
offers.
The project is part of a trend toward transitoriented
development (TOD. In another
example of TOD, Alston Station Square is
located on the main line of the Long Island
Rail Road in Ronkonkoma.
“The building’s proximity to Main Street and
the train are both desirable,” said Tritec Vice
President of Development Kelley Heck. “And
the Village government and community’s
support of revitalization were critical factors
in our decision to invest in Lindenhurst.”
Construction was completed, despite the
pandemic, with a wide range of protocols put
in place. “The pandemic was a challenge. We
had to close the site for eight weeks due to the
Governor’s Executive Order,” said Executive Vice
President of Construction Ken Abrami. “During
that time, we established new Covid protocols.”
Tritec staggered morning start times, so
contractors did not arrive at once, took
temperatures, and collected daily attestations.
Hand-sanitizing stations were located
throughout the building. “We had contact
tracing devices attached to hardhats to measure
how long and far apart people were,” Abrami
said.
The Wel has acted as a magnet for downtown
development. “Since we announced the
development of The Wel, there have been 18
new businesses on Wellwood and Hoffman
Avenues,” said Bob Coughlan. “Eight of those
stores opened during the pandemic.”
According to Tritec, almost 60 percent of the
units in The Wel have been released. The
property has a mix of studio, one-, two- and
three-bedroom units ranging in price from
$2,100 to $4,700, depending on the apartment.
“A diversified housing stock meets the
demands of the modern market,” Heck said.
“Young professionals and empty nesters want
the same walkable, accessible downtowns
where they don’t have to drive to every
destination.”
Heck said the rental apartments are “targeted
at people of all age groups who want something
different than a single-family home, which
could be for a multitude of reasons.”
There is almost an 80/20 split on Long Island
between single-family homes and multi-family
apartments, according to Tritec. “Demand has
been strong given the dearth of multifamily
housing in the region and the more recent
changes to the housing market during Covid,”
Kelley Heck added.
The development, named for a historic figure
in Lindenhurst, in a way corrects a historical
mistake while paving the way to the future.
“We named it The Wel because one of the
original founders of Lindenhurst was named
Thomas Welwood. Wellwood Avenue is spelled
with two L’s by mistake,” said Phil Chiovitti,
community manager for the Wel. “We thought
it would be a nice nod to one of the founders
to name the property The Wel.”
Tritec hopes The Wel will both respect the
region’s history and help energize its future.
“We embraced the history of Lindenhurst and
the history of the former factory building with
design elements like the original building’s
furnace doors, arches, and brick,” said Kelly.
“We have worked hard to create relationships
with the Lindenhurst Chamber of Commerce,
the Business Improvement District, and local
retailers. The spirit of Lindenhurst is what we
hope to have infused into the building.”
Tritec Real Estate Company’s latest development called The Wel recently debuted in Lindenhurst.
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