Southampton Town Holds Affordable Housing Lottery On Thursday

Two families came one step closer to moving into a pair of newly constructed affordable homes in Tuckahoe, called Tuckahoe Woods, during an affordable housing lottery last week at Southampton Town Hall.

With a spin of a raffle drum, Councilwoman Christine Scalera pulled out the names of the first two people to be offered the opportunity to qualify for the affordable homes: James White of Southampton and Jen Tabares of Hampton Bays. Neither was among the approximately 50 people in attendance during the lottery drawing inside the auditorium at Town Hall last Thursday, March 15.

Mr. White and Ms. Tabares were among 252 people who submitted applications in the affordable housing lottery.

The homes—one is located at 409 Moses Lane, the other at 269 Magee Street—will be sold for $332,400 each. Town officials estimate that the market value of the homes would be $1 million each.

Each of the houses was built on land donated by Southampton Town; the construction was under the direction of the Southampton Business Alliance Housing Initiative Corporation.

The possible new homeowners still have a number of obstacles to pass before they officially receive one of the homes—including meeting income and employment requirements, completing mortgage counseling with the Long Island Housing Partnership and qualifying to obtain a mortgage.

Also, their household income must fall under the maximum income levels set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

If the first two people to have their names drawn during the lottery don’t meet the requirements, the Long Island Housing Partnership will continue down the list of names until they reach a qualified homebuyer for the single-family homes. Each of the homes features three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a full basement.

Individuals picked in the lottery last week will receive letters in the mail with their number on it, according to Southampton Town Housing and Community Development Director Diana Weir.

Gabby Pazos, whose name was the 10th to be pulled from the raffle drum, said she has been living with her family of four in a Sag Harbor rental for the past 17 years and dreams of owning a home.

Quests to find a house on her own have been defeating: “It’s very expensive,” Ms. Pazos, a self-employed accountant, said in Spanish, as her friend Carolin Grijalva of East Hampton translated.