Photo of the Day: Summerwind Square Breaks Ground

Government officials and investors in the Summerwind Square project gathered Monday afternoon to begin construction of the apartment complex by tearing down a wall of the building currently occupying the site.

is a private $4 million complex that will include 52 affordable housing apartments, with a restaurant on the first floor. The 8,000-square-foot building will also include space on the ground floor that can be divided for businesses, according to  councilwoman and investor Jodi Giglio.

Giglio said the project would close on Wednesday morning and construction would take about 10 months to complete.

"We started at one end with the Hyatt Hotel, this is the other bookend," Giglio said. "We're going to fill everything in between."

Town Supervisor Sean Walter donned a hard hat at the event and got behind the wheel of an excavator to rip down the wall of the former Club 91 while officials cheered.  

Walter thanked County Executive Steve Levy, who did not attend the press conference, for "moving heaven and earth in the last couple of weeks" to get the project started, and also commended the Suffolk County Legislature and Legis. Ed Romaine, R-Center Moriches, for their help.

"I was down in Patchogue last week and I looked at 80 units of affordable housing down there and it just added a vibrancy to the downtown. This project ... [is] really going to add something to this community that we haven't had in a long time."