New Long Island entertainment/retail center planned.

Riverhead Centre, a 432,000 square-foot entertainment and retail property planned for 51 acres at the corner of Mill Road and Route 58 in Riverhead, NY on Long Island's East End, will be built by East End Properties, L.L.C., a subsidiary of The Related Companies, L.P., of New York City.

Once completed, Riverhead Centre will be the fourth largest open-air shopping center on Long Island, incorporating unique architectural design with one of the first developments in the area to combine a state-of-the-art multiplex theater, destination dining and premier value retailers, The project will create approximately 1,200 permanent, year-round jobs and is expected to transform the shopping patterns across Long Island's changing East End.

According to East End Properties President H.B. Gianos, the project's developer, The Centre, which is already 85 percent pre-leased, will include such tenants as Regal Cinemas, Home Depot, Waldbaums, Staples, T.G.I. Friday's, Circuit City, Modell's, Party City and Marshall's.

"We are very excited about moving forward with Riverhead Centre," said Gianos. "By creating more than 1,200 new jobs and putting millions of new dollars into the region's economy each year, these projects are yet another major step toward the commercial revitalization of Riverhead."

The town, which is the geographic meeting point of Long Island's north and south forks, has been slow to feel the effects of the national economic recovery, but recently became a destination for outlet shoppers with the success of the Tanger Outlet Center, which opened two years ago.

"The development of this center will make Riverhead the leading retail hub of the entire East End, attracting tens of thousands of visitors and bringing millions of dollars into the community," said Mitchell H. Pally, vice president of Economic and Legislative Affairs at the Long Island Association, the region's largest business and civic organization.

Riverhead Centre will also provide a $1 million mitigation payment to the Town of Riverhead to assist the Town's efforts to revitalize the downtown area. As part of its commitment, Riverhead Centre has secured an agreement with Regal Cinemas to manage the historic Suffolk Theater on Main Street upon the completion of its renovation by the Town of Riverhead as a movie house and performing arts center. The Town plans to use the Suffolk Theater as an anchor for the new Downtown Arts District.

Gianos pointed to a survey of more than 5,800 Riverhead residents (approximately one-half of the Town's registered voters) which revealed that approximately 75 percent of those polled were in support of Riverhead Centre. "In the ongoing debate between no-growth and sensible growth, it is clear that the residents see the need and have the desire for this project in Riverhead," he said. "A ground-breaking ceremony will likely take place before the new year."

Previously, East End Properties has been involved in several Long Island properties, including the acquisition, renovation and ownership of the Ramada Inn in Riverhead; the Mill Brook Apartments in Riverhead; the Best Western MacArthur Hotel in Holtsville; and the development of the Computer Associates international headquarters in Islandia.