Developer unveils new plan for shuttered Sayville golf course

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The developer of a proposed residential community at a shuttered and long-vacant golf course in Sayville is taking another swing at the project. 

Rechler Equity Partners has unveiled a revised concept for housing at the 114-acre site of the former Island Hills Golf Course, which closed in 2015. The new plan from the Plainview-based developer is a scaled-back version with 35 percent less density than its original 2017 proposal for 1,365 apartments in 27 buildings that was to be dubbed Greybarn Sayville. 

The revised plan for the community to be called South Bay Village, which was submitted to the Town of Islip earlier this week, calls for 890 residences, with perhaps the biggest change being 35 percent for-sale homes as opposed to rentals. The latest revision includes 314 single-family homes to be restricted to buyers aged 55 and older. In addition, 173 of the 576 rental apartments would also be leased to people 55 and older. 

This latest plan is the third that’s been proposed for the former golf course. Last summer, the developer pitched a project that would have brought 925 residences, but it was not pursued with the town after continued community opposition. 

The effort to redevelop the former golf course has been a lengthy odyssey. After pushback from the community, the Islip town board refused to rezone the Island Hills property in Dec. 2021. The current zoning allows for just 98 single-family homes. 

In the last couple of years, the developer has met with local civic groups, area residents and other stakeholders to get input and support for a revised development plan. A group called the Island Hills Advisory Committee (IHAC) was formed and created a website to garner community comments. The committee issued a report on its activities last month. 

“As we set out to envision a concept that would better fit within the Sayville community, we knew we needed to find a creative way to communicate with stakeholders,” Gregg Rechler, co-managing partner of Rechler Equity, said in a company statement. “We were able to use the IHAC’s report as a guiding light for our revised concept to address key topics identified by the community, including a reduction in overall density, the inclusion of home-ownership options, age restricted homes and single-family homes that neighbor the surrounding blocks.” 

The developer says the new concept ensures single-family homes line the periphery of the property, minimizing traffic impact to surrounding roadways. The new plan, which includes three-bedroom cottages, limits buildings to three stories and a portion of the rental residences would be reserved for adults with disabilities. 

Benefits to the community in the new plan include the expansion of wastewater infrastructure in the area, shuttles to downtown and the Long Island Rail Road station, an increase in school tax revenue and more, according to the statement. 

“Rechler Equity prides itself not only on the developments we create, but our long-term commitments to property operations and maintenance,” Mitchell Rechler, co-managing partner of Rechler Equity, said in the statement. “When we invest in a community, we do so for the long haul, which incentivizes us to create concepts that mesh with the existing fabric of the surrounding community. We believe that this fruitful approach to our outreach process has allowed us to do just that.”