AvalonBay completes brownfield cleanup in Rockville Centre

Late last month, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued AvalonBay Communities a certificate of completion following its cleanup of a brownfield site on Banks Avenue.

The remediation, which involved digging up and disposing of thousands of tons of contaminated soil, will allow AvalonBay to finish construction of a second apartment complex on Banks Avenue.

“The majority of the work had been completed [in October], so we were waiting for the formal completion,” said Chris Capece, AvalonBay’s development director. “Construction is going great. We’re on target to start our first move-ins at 80 Banks in the beginning of April.”

According to DEC spokeswoman Lisa King, a total of 19,770 tons of soil were excavated and disposed of at three different facilities in New Jersey, Ohio and Quebec. King estimated that the cost of the cleanup, assumed by AvalonBay, was between $2 million and $3 million.

“The brownfield cleanup in Rockville Centre has taken the better part of three years and multi-millions of dollars to complete,” Capece said. “It has been one of the largest brownfield cleanups in Long Island’s history, and we are proud that we were a part of making it happen.”

The parcel, which stretches from 80 to 100 Banks Ave., is a 7.1-acre industrial property that was previously owned by Darby Group Companies and was the site of a pharmaceutical product warehouse and distribution center. It had been unused since 2000.

“The Village of Rockville Centre took a proactive position on a site that’s use had grown obsolete,” Capece said. “We were able to clean up and reposition the site to make it useful again, eventually yielding taxes and satisfying the significant housing need for quality rentals in the community.”

In addition to the soil, 12.7 million gallons of groundwater was pumped from the site, treated and discharged.

According to Capece, all of the units in the apartment complex at 100 Banks Ave. have been leased, and the second building has begun leasing as well.