For those of you who are unclear of what the Heartland project is here is a description from a Newsday article.
“When finished, it would have 40 percent more people per square mile than Queens"
If developer Gerald Wolkoff can pull it off, the 451-acre Heartland Town Square project he first proposed in 2002 will become a mini-city — with 8,999 apartments and three office towers, including one 20 stories tall, plus stores, restaurants and landscaped walkways. Approvals from Islip Town and Suffolk County could come as soon as this summer. If they do, Wolkoff will have succeeded in overcoming a difficult financial and political climate for projects as big as Heartland.
Unlike other major developments on Long Island — from the Lighthouse Project in Hempstead to Riverhead Resorts in Calverton — that have floundered amid political squabbles, community backlash or financing woes, Wolkoff’s vision has gained strong support in a community willing to accept density and traffic. The anticipated payoff: tax dollars and thousands of jobs.
And in an unusual arrangement, Wolkoff has agreed to build in three phases, giving Islip Town the power to pull the plug if the project causes more traffic than projected or fails to leave enough public space. Phase One alone calls for more than 3,500 apartments, half of the retail and about 20 percent of the office space.
This project would be like building a new city on Long Island and if Wolkoff and Wang are willing to work together the Islanders could be the center piece of the city.
Recommended Reading:
http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infomo;JSESSIONID=EDD9DC004C2D46BC1EF6.3182?site=newsday&view=search_results_item&feed:a=newsday_5min&feed:c=longisland&feed:i=1.2787520&part=0
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