Hempstead, NY Frederick Parola, chief executive of the town industrial development agency (IDA) said the IDA has taken steps to increase the availability of rental housing in the town with the final approval of one project and initial approval to a second, both in the village of Freeport.
Meeting on Sept. 21st, the IDA board gave final authorization to the Gardens at Buffalo LLC and preliminary approval to the Bishop Ronald H. Carter Manor housing development, which together will result in the creation of 270 apartments.
“The village and the town are in dire need if quality rental housing, especially for seniors, and those in need of affordable rentals,” Parola said. “These housing shortages are forcing residents to move away from Long Island.”
The IDA has been at the forefront of helping to resolve the Long Island housing crisis by aiding rental apartment projects throughout the town. Currently, there are a half-dozen pending projects, including Bishop Carter, before the IDA that ultimately could bring almost 500 additional rental units to the town. Since the beginning of 2022, the IDA approved 10 rental housing projects with an aggregate of 1,568 apartments.
The application granted preliminary approval for a $44 million project of 70 units of senior housing at 106 Bdwy., Freeport, submitted by Levittown-based D&Amp;F Development Group LLC., a long-time Long Island developer of affordable rentals. D&Amp;F is partnered with the owner of the site, the Refuge Apostolic Church of Christ. A 77,000 s/f building is to be built on 0.69 acres. Some of the units will be targeted toward the frail elderly. The project, which has village approvals and which is receiving state tax credits, is expected to generate about 30 construction jobs and two permanent ones.
The Bishop Carter project now must undergo further IDA review, a public hearing, and a final authorizing resolution.
Also at the Sept. 21st meeting, the IDA granted final authorization to a Lawrence-based developer who plans to turn a former Freeport Village public housing development into a new 200-unit affordable rental apartment complex, the largest in the village. The $49 million project known as The Gardens of Buffalo LLC, granted preliminary approval on August 22 to benefits for the project being built by an affiliate of Lawrence-based BOSFA Properties, which plans to replace the decaying Moxey Rigby property, which was damaged and made uninhabitable by Superstorm Sandy.
BOSFA, operated by father and son Daniel and Aron Goldstein, specializes in distressed properties — BOSFA stands for Builders of Sustainable Family Apartments Of Sustainable Family Apartments — currently owns 664. units and has another 1,462 units under development, mostly in Nassau County.
BOSFA plans to gut and convert the blighted former Rigby houses, originally constructed in 1957 and now outdated, vacant, and blighted, into modern housing. It plans a 165,936 s/f apartment complex with 10 studio, 100 one-bedroom, 70 two-bedroom, and 20 three-bedroom units. BOSFA has contracted to buy the 2.5-acre site from the village at 80-84 Albany Ave. and 17-33 Buffalo Ave. The project has the necessary zoning approvals. The site will be on the village tax roll for the first time.
The old complex was built more than 70 years ago as Moxey Rigby’s vision of what public housing in Freeport could be. Rigby was Nassau County’s first African-American elected judge. He went on to serve Freeport as vice chairman of the Freeport Housing Authority.
The housing authority maintained the building until Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012 and flooded the lower levels with as much as 10 feet of saltwater. The authority replaced the old buildings with a new Moxey Rigby project nearby. It opened on Dec. 10, 2019.
Rendering courtesy Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP
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