The Commodore (street view), a three-bedroom owner’s home with a three-bedroom rental, is one style of home being built in the project.
Well over 100 people grabbed applications, and had their questions answered by key project representatives at the first application seminar for Arverne by the Sea, Tuesday night.
More that 30 homes will soon be for sale in the area of Beach 74 Street between Shore Front Parkway and Rockaway Beach Boulevard – the area referred by the developers as Phase 1A. A lottery method is being used to distribute the homes among qualified buyers. Applications became available in late August; the return postmark deadline is October 21.
The crowd that assembled at the meeting, which was held at The Beach Club, was made up of men and women of mixed race and nationality. Some, as young as their late 20s, were looking to become first-time homebuyers. Others were of retirement age.
All of the chairs set out before the meeting filled up almost immediately, and when more were added they filled up quickly as well. Some stood around the perimeter of the room or in the doorway.
The Brittania, is a three-bedroom owner’s home with a garage and a one-bedroom rental home.
Representatives from developers Benjamin and Beechwood and the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) answered questions posed by perspective buyers. People asked about parking, schools and the lottery process.
The school, which won’t be built until the latter stages of the project, will most likely be grades K-8, according to a Benjamin and Beechwood representative.
The lottery, according to HPD, works as follows: applications are sent to a post office box that will be emptied, under observation, about one week after the deadline. The applications will then be divided into several bags, with about 500-600 per bag. Next, an HPD representative will remove an envelope from each of the bags, beginning with the first and then continuing for as many bags as there are, then returning to the first bag in a continuous loop. The applicant’s names will be logged and they will be contacted in late November or December.
At the seminar, HPD representatives stressed that individuals sending more than one application will be disqualified. They also said that because the applications must be sent by regular mail only.