The New York Times
Revitalizing a Blighted Area Through New Housing
October 15, 2000

Bay Shore razes block 2 for subsidized project

By DIANA SHAMAN
Luronne Charles, a resident of this South Shore Suffolk hamlet, recalls the time when Smith Avenue, a centrally located thoroughfare north of Main street, was a scary place. The street's residential section from Mechanicsville Road north to Union Boulevard was a very bad street," she said, "with abandoned and burned-out houses and cars in the middle of the road."

But now neighborhood blight is about to be replaced by new housing: a 78-unit community with a mix of town houses and rental apartments. The 44 substandard houses that formerly lined the street were razed last year by the Town of Islip, which took them over under its powers of eminent domain. The block has been blocked temporarily to through traffic, and the Long island Housing Partnership, a nonprofit group based in Hauppauge, has begun developing the land for the project, called South Wind Village. New residents, including Mrs. Charles and her husband, Sonder, whose names were picked from hundreds of would-be purchasers in a December lottery, will start moving in by spring.

The project will include 52 three-bedroom attached town houses that with the help of federal, state and private grants will be sold to first-time home buyers for $84,000. House purchasers will need about $6,000 for down payments and closing costs. Monthly payments, including taxes, will be under $1,000. The 26 rental apartments will be owned by the Town of Islip Housing Authority, and rents will not exceed 30 percent of family income. Ten of the rental units will be three bedroom town houses identical to the forsale houses are remodeling 16 will be one bedroom apartments in two-story buildings for rental by people 62 and over. Those tenants will have their own community house. A children's playground will be available for younger families.

South Wind Village has been in the planning stages for six years, and many financial resources have been tapped to keep housing prices at a level that low- to moderate-income buyers can afford. Of the 52
houses, 41 are being sold to first-time buyers Staking no more than 80 percent of the median income in Nassau and Suffolk Counties: the income ceiling amounts to $61,200 for a family of four. The remaining 11 houses are being sold to buyers making no more than 60 percent of the median — $45,900 for a family of four. The Income of renters cannot exceed 50 percent of the median; this comes to $38,250 for four people and $30,600 for a couple.

Beyond providing attractive new low-cost housing, the project is also being lauded as an example of what can be done to renew downtown by revitalizing their housing, a planning concept referred to as "smart growth." "Most of the time when you talk about urban renewal and downtown revitalization, you're talking about stores and office space," said Jim Morgo, the president of the Housing Partnership. "Here, blighted dilapidated structures are being replaced by quality new homes that will bring people in." Once a thriving retail center, Bay Shore went through many years of decline after the opening of regional malls. Housing around Main Street also declined as absentee landlords turned single-family residences into rooming houses.

Two streets—Second Avenue and Smith Avenue—were particularly blighted, with a high incidence of drug dealings, prostitution and other criminal activities, said Paul Fink, the executive director of Islip's Community Development Agency. A private group called Artco, formed by local residents and businesses, has been purchasing and renovating houses on Second Avenue, turning that street around. Another organization, South Shore Restoration Group, recently restored a historic firehouse on the same street. But Smith Avenue required more drastic action—relocating its residents and replacing existing housing with new development— according to a study prepared in 1994 by Islip's planning department. "We felt it was the type of street that we could never get people to invest to because it had such a poor quality housing Stock to begin with," Mr. Fink said.

The total cost of the South Wind Village project, including acquisition, demolition and site improvement, will be just under $14 million. A total of eight financing sources,including private lenders, became involved to make the project one mat could meet its goal of housing for low- to moderate-income families, Mr. Morgo said. The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, a private lender sponsored by the government, was the first to make a commitment to the project, win a $520,000 grant The commercial bank EAB followed win a $4.3 million construction loan, which will be paid back as me houses are sold. A total of $4.3 million in federal funds and grants provided to the Islip Housing Authority will cover the cost of the rental buildings.

Federal Home Funds — money earmarked for housing geared to low-income families—and grants from the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Bank and the Long Island Housing Partnership will be used to reduce the actual cost of each house, $167,645, to the $84.000 mat buyers must pay. The grants become liens against the property that expire if a purchaser owns the home for at least 10 years. The townhouses, which were originally expected to cost $137,000 each to build, are costing 530,000 more, mostly because of increases over six years in the cost of materials and labor.
The builder of both the town houses and the rental housing is the Beechwood Organization of Jericho, whose principals are Michael Dubb and Leslie A. Lerner. Beechwood has been an active builder of subsidized housing in New York City. This is its first subsidized project on Long Island.Using a blue and gray color scheme throughout and details like scalloped shingles, multiple-pane windows and some octagonal windows, South Wind Village "will look like a single development along a brand new street," he said. Beechwood also builds market-rate housing throughout Long Island, and Mr. Dubb said houses similar to the 1,200-square-foot homes he is building on smith Avenue would command prices of $150,000 to $175,000 to comparable neighborhoods. In areas like Smithtown or Manorville, they would sell for $200,000 to $240,000, he said.

Bay Shore is gearing up to become one of those better areas once again, as it is attracting an influx of trendy retailers and restaurants to Main Street. A major boost to the downtown came in 1991 when me Great South Bay Y.M.C A. renovated the boarded-up former Bay Shore Theater at me corner of Clinton and Main Streets, turning it into a 55,000-square foot community center. More recently, the Touro College School of Health Sciences moved into a former state-owned building on Union Boulevard that housed the Department of Social Services and other state agencies. The school, which opened to the renovated building m January 1999 with an enrollment of 500 students and 150 employees, including faculty members, has brought both increased pedestrian traffic and a demand for student rental housing to the downtown.

An even more ambitious project, the 565 million nonprofit Long Island Aquarium, to be located on a 2.5 acre site on Mechanicsville Road and Fourth Avenue, is scheduled to start construction next year, according to Arthur F. Dromerhauser, the aquarium's chief executive. A 97,000-square-foot 133 foot-high building has been designed by Chermayess, Sollugub & Poole of Cambridge, Mass., a firm that also designed the National Aquarium in Baltimore, among others. The aquarium, which has been chartered by the New York State Board of Regents as an educational institution, has already received $21 million of an anticipated $40 million in public and private financing, and it hopes to raise $25 million through the sale of bonds.

Bay Shore's downtown, once pockmarked with empty stores and suffering a 40 percent vacancy rate, has attracted 33 new businesses in the last two and a half years, with 12 businesses opening since May, said Donna Periconi, president of the Bay Shore Chamber of Commerce. New retailers Include Auieen Gardner Antiques, a store selling fine antiques that attracts customers from Great Neck to East Hampton. The Milk and Sugar Cafe, where patrons dine sitting on plush sofas, and Galloping Greens, an organic food and health food store, are also recent arrivals. Vacancies are now down to 15 percent, and newly encouraged landlords are renovating their store fronts to reflect me community's nautical ties.
The Town of Islip, using federal highway money, has been repaving sidewalks with brick accents, installing new street lighting and new street trees. And to recent months, Bay Shore has attracted national attention because Representative Rick A. Lazio, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate, has his campaign headquarters on Main Street.

The new housing will add "a home run," Mr. Fink of the Community Development Agency said. "Smith Avenue will not only be a tremendous success, but also a tremendous symbol of success," he said. " Between that, the Y.M.C.A., Touro College and the work of the business community, people will look at Bay Shore and say, 'This is an area that's well on its way.'"

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