Sorry, Donald
By Tim Kelly

CALVERTON - A town advisory committee has said no to real estate magnate Donald Trump's second offer for all 2,900 acres of the onetime Grumman plant, which called for building 1,500 houses rather than a NASCAR race track.

Meeting Friday afternoon, the Riverhead Development Corp. reaffirmed its earlier support for three purchase offers for separate parts of the parcel. Added together, the three sales would cover about 1,600 acres with a total sales price of about $36 million.

Although the RDC declined to recommend that the Town Board enter into negotiations with Project Calverton, the first group to suggest building an auto race track where Grumman once assembled and tested military aircraft, it didn't completely rule out that possibility. The group, which advises the Town Board on its bid to sell off the former Navy-owned land, suggested that the race track's backers could seek to deal with one of the other potential buyers, providing that racing's found to be compatible with the other uses envisioned.

For the past several years Project Calverton seemed unable to shift beyond first gear. But the idea of establishing a major racing center in Riverhead roared ahead in the past several months with Mr. Trump's sudden and unexpected offer to buy the whole parcel for $55 million. He then formed a partnership with the owners of several major racetracks, including the Daytona International Speedway in Florida, to develop a new facility somewhere in the metropolitan area.

With that group unwilling to commit to Calverton by the town's March 22 deadline, the first Trump deal appeared to stall. Even so, Mr. Trump's bid survived the RDC's March session, during which the panel turned down all but six of the purchase offers. Last week the RDC said no to the developer and casino owners' second proposal since it included a housing project, which is expressly prohibited by the town's approved redevelopment plan.

Housing never an option

"It was never the town's intention to put housing there," said Jack O'Connor of the Grubb & Ellis real estate firm, which is marketing the property on the town's behalf. The second Trump proposal also included plans for four golf courses. In recent weeks the flamboyant developer made several trips to inspect the site.

The only golf resort offer still on the table is the $8.5 million the Landmark National company bid for 500 acres with an option on another 300. The company has said it would build two golf courses plus a hotel and conference center.

Also still in the running is the $5.4 million Mentmore offer for 300 acres. That group suggested building a 5,000-seat baseball stadium and two ice hockey rinks.

As it had before, the RDC also endorsed the $17 million Lazarus Burman bid for the facility's industrial core. The one change there is that the company's no longer seeking control over the 10,000-foot main runway, said Mr. O'Connor. Although that cuts the requested acreage down from 550 to about 400, the price offered is the same.

All three offers are contingent upon the town's enacting new zoning in keeping with the reuse plan's vision of combining industrial and recreational enterprises. The Suffolk County Planning Commission recently complicated the rezoning process by ruling against the pending change, saying the Town Board didn't adequately study potential environmental impacts. A vote of at least four board members is needed to override the commission.