MTA issues RFP for Riverhead train station lease, sets open house for Friday at 12 noon

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority invites interested parties to check out the former LIRR ticket office at the Riverhead train station tomorrow at 12 noon.

The MTA is looking to lease the 1,500-square-foot building for a term of 10 years, and has issued a request for proposals for the site. Proposals are due Sept. 28. (See RFP below.)

The agency’s “selection criteria include the financial strength, management expertise, business plan, and track record of the proposer, as well as the compensation offered and the improvements proposed for the property,” according to the RFP.

The building, originally constructed 102 years ago, has not been used by the railroad since the early 1970s. The MTA spent $1 million to renovate the building more than a decade ago, then leased it to the Town of Riverhead at no charge, on the condition that the premises be occupied by a nonprofit organization. It’s remained mostly unoccupied ever since. The Riverhead Business Improvement District moved its office there in 2002, only to vacate within two weeks, with then-executive director Vicki Staciwo citing safety concerns. The town allowed a local soup kitchen to serve boxed lunches there in 2009 after

The lease to the town expired last September.

Unlike the lease to the town, the terms of the MTA’s request for proposal do not require that the tenant be a nonprofit organization.

Supervisor Sean Walter said he was able to convince LIRR president Helena Williams that the MTA’s insistence that the tenant be a nonprofit prevented the town from finding a leasing the space.

The supervisor said the MTA issued the RFP earlier this month but didn’t notify the town until late last week. The agency didn’t advertise it the RFP either, beyond the required legal notice, he said.

“We’ve tried to spread the word [about tomorrow’s site inspection],” Walter said. “We’ve called local real estate agents and the media. I hope people show an interest.”

LIRR Riverhead station RFP

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