A $125 million project in Westbury aims to elevate apartment living with a fitness studio and spa, a 75-foot outdoor pool

A $125 million project in Westbury aims to elevate apartment living with a fitness studio and spa, a 75-foot outdoor pool and rents as high as $8,000 a month.

The Beechwood Organization this week launched a marketing website for The Selby, a 582,000-square-foot project with 210 apartments and 27 hotel units overlooking Eisenhower Park. The six-story development includes a dining room for private events, a club room with an indoor-outdoor bar, a terrace with an outdoor pool, a fitness studio that offers spa services and a 6,000-square-foot restaurant.

The residence, at 695 Merrick Ave., may not require all that much promotion, according to Beechwood principal Steven Dubb. He said "several thousand" people requested updates on the construction of The Selby and will be invited to tour the grounds as Beechwood prepares for tenants to move in this summer.

Beechwood, a Jericho-based development firm that has built more than 7,500 homes, designed a prior luxury apartment project when it got several requests for leases at one of its condo projects, Dubb said. That apartment building, The Vanderbilt, was fully leased within six months of opening in 2018, according to Beechwood. Rents there range from $4,299 to $8,000 for one-, two- and three-bedrooms.

"We had a thesis that the Vanderbilt would work, but we were surprised by how strong demand was," Dubb said. "As demographics age on Long Island and what [residents] want in housing changes, I just think it's nice to be able to build something that keeps up with those changing needs."

Both projects attract retirees, who, without children at home, don't want a house or the responsibilities that come with it, such as clearing the gutters and shoveling snow, Dubb said. Other likely tenants include former Long Islanders who are looking to move back, but don't know where they'll land on the Island.Get the Biz Briefing newsletter!

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Named for Dubb's wife, The Selby has oak floors, Viking appliances and cabinetry from the German company, Störmer. Monthly rents will range from $2,700 for a 500-square-foot studio to $8,000 for a 2,200-square-foot, three-bedroom. Most units will lease for $4,500 to $5,500 a month, Dubb said.

These are not "normal" rates on the Island, but there's a market for The Selby, according to Mitch Pally, CEO of the Long Island Builders Institute, a trade group for developers and construction firms.

"I would foresee a continuation of this type of demand," Pally said, noting that remote work may make similar residences on Long Island appealing to those who previously sought them in New York City.

The average asking rent in Nassau County is just under $2,590 a month, according to Moody's Analytics, an economic research and consulting firm. At 5.1%, the county's apartment vacancy rate is higher than its average over the past decade and than rates in Suffolk County, Moody's Analytics said. The construction of nearly 900 apartments in the past two years has helped push up the number of empty units.

"I think you'll see they will all be absorbed in the next year," Pally said. "I have not seen or heard from my members that they're having any difficulty in renting market-rate or even above-market-rate units."

Stays in the hotel units will cost about $200 to $400 a night, Beechwood said.

The developer hasn't decided who will run the restaurant on site, but said the eatery will be open to the public.

Original article from Newsday

Author: Sarina Trangle