The Southampton Town Housing Authority and a private development company will present plans to the Town Board on Tuesday afternoon, August 13, for a proposed new affordable housing apartment complex in Tuckahoe.
The Housing Authority and the developers, Jericho-based Georgica Green Ventures, are asking the Town Board to amend a Planned Development District plan, which was approved by the Town Board in 2009, to allow 34 one-bedroom and studio-style apartments that would be rented at below-market rates. If the amendment is approved, the Housing Authority would purchase the 2.6-acre property from Georgica Green Ventures owner David Gallo and develop the four-building plan and manage the rentals itself.
The proposal will be the subject of a public hearing before the Town Board next week at the board’s 1 p.m. meeting on Tuesday.
The original plans for the property, which were approved by the Town Board and went through a full site plan review by the Planning Board, called for 16 two-bedroom condominium units that would be sold, rather than rented, albeit at rates billed as affordable for middle-income families.
The amendment proposal still calls for four buildings to be built on the property, although they would be slightly larger than originally planned. The total development proposed in the approved condominium plan was about 20,000 square feet. The amended buildings would total 21,100 square feet.
The new development plans would include 24 one-bedroom apartments of 650 square feet each and 10 studio apartments of 550 square feet each.
“From the perspective of the Housing Authority, which has an option to purchase this property, rental housing is a much needed housing option in the town,” attorney David Gilmartin, who represents Georgica Green Ventures, said this week. “During the original planning process, the Planning Board had asked about rentals as a possible option.”
Housing Authority representatives have noted that the amended plan will mean the development will likely have less impact on local school districts, since the small size of the apartments means they will not attract families with school-age children, whereas the 1,200-square-foot condo units might have.
Mr. Gilmartin said that the original plans to develop the condominiums privately were undermined, shortly after the approval process was completed, by changes in bank financing practices in the wake of the housing credit crisis.
When it was first put on the block, the Sandy Hollow Cove project was spotlighted by former Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy as a possible acquisition for the county to create affordable housing, which would have made it the county’s first such venture east of the Shinnecock Canal. But the county deal never got off the ground, and the developers turned to the town’s Housing Authority.
Neither the developers nor the town would disclose what the sale price of the property would be were the Town Board to approve the amendments.
on Aug 7, 2013