New Affordable Homes In Southampton Village Near Completion

For Southampton native Sharon Campuzano, owning a house in her hometown seemed to be an unlikely prospect.

“I never thought that at 30 years old, I’d be able to buy a home on the East End,” said Ms. Campuzano, an accountant with Bridgehampton National Bank.

But now, because of efforts by local government officials and the Southampton Housing Authority, Ms. Campuzano can call a new home on Bailey Road in the village her own.

Since late 2013, construction has been under way on that road for three new homes slated to be completed by the end of the summer. Each structure is roughly 1,612 square feet and sits on approximately one-half acre of land. Designed by architect John David Rose, with construction overseen by Koral Brothers, Ironwood Construction and H.F. Swanson, the two-story homes all feature three bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as cedar shingles, white trim, oak floors and mahogany porches.

According to a press release from the Housing Authority, which spearheaded the housing project, the other two new homeowners are Amani Proctor-Wingfield, a dispatcher and first responder for Southampton Village, and Matthew Weeks, a schoolteacher who currently lives in Hampton Bays. The new home owners were selected by lottery from those who qualified based on income and other factors such as whether they were local residents or served as emergency services volunteers.

The construction of the homes, officials said, has proved to be a tremendous accomplishment. The Bailey Road property was seized by Suffolk County in 2001 for delinquent taxes and then eventually given to Southampton Village after the county considered auctioning property off. The village subdivided the property before transferring the three new parcels to the Housing Authority so they could be designated for an affordable housing project.

Thanks to a long list of companies that donated their services to keep down costs–Riverhead Building Supply and Speonk Lumber, among them, provided all of the building supplies–each home is priced at $306,000. There is also a $50,000 grant from the town Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund attached to each house, lowering the cost to $256,000 per applicant. If sold privately in the real estate market, the homes and their lots would probably go for more than $1 million, Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman said at a press conference to showcase the homes on August 4. Instead, they will remain designated for affordable housing in perpetuity.

Suffolk County National Bank facilitated construction loans to the Housing Authority and mortgages for the home buyers, according to the release. The Riverhead-based law firm Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin and Quartararo LLP provided pro bono legal services for the new owners.

At the press conference, government and Housing Authority officials stressed how monumental the construction of the homes is. Bonnie Michelle Cannon, chair of the Southampton Housing Authority, said she was “overfilled with joy” to see a vision she has had for more than a decade finally come to fruition.

“There were so many hurdles we had to overcome,” she said before a group of people gathered on the front porch of what will soon be Ms. Proctor-Wingfield’s home. “We provided homes to our local community—to young people who went to school here. Let’s not stop here. I do not believe that this is it for the Village of Southampton.”

Housing Authority Executive Director Curtis E. Highsmith added that the homes are consistent with the character of Southampton, another aspect of the project that many thought would not be realistic. “Affordable housing in Southampton was an oxymoron,” he said. “It’s not something we thought possible.”

Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley, Mr. Schneiderman and Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst all agreed that it is important for more projects like the Bailey Road affordable homes to take place to ensure that people who grew up in the community and work here have the opportunity to afford to live here, too.

“We talk about how we live in this paradise, but we have to make sure that the backbone of this paradise is maintained,” Ms. Throne-Holst said. “We need everyone to come to the podium. We have got to help people understand how important it is.”