$1 billion in LI building projects earn 'smart growth' honors

Developers, nonprofits and governments are being lauded for building projects that will bring more affordable apartments and new businesses to 11 local communities.

Vision Long Island, a nonprofit that advocates for downtown revitalization and better planning, presented its annual “Smart Growth Awards” last week to 17 groups and individuals. They were selected from 45 nominations, officials said.

Together, the recognized projects are valued at more than $1 billion and will have nearly 1,300 apartments, said Eric Alexander, Vision’s director. They will “inject … economic activity and improve our environment, infrastructure and quality of life,” he said before the awards ceremony at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

Among the honorees is the nonprofit Concern for Independent Living Inc. and Hempstead Village for the Estella Housing development near the village’s Long Island Rail Road station.

All of the project's 96 apartments are affordable, with 42 reserved for veterans, said Ralph Fasano, executive director of the Medford-based nonprofit. He said a bakery is planned for the building’s first floor and will be run by some of the veterans.

“There’s a great need for affordable housing in all communities across Long Island,” Fasano said in a video shown at the awards ceremony.

Still, the Estella project languished for years because then-Hempstead Mayor Don Ryan opposed new apartment complexes and tax incentives from the Hempstead Town Industrial Development Agency for them. 

"I was opposed to PILOTs for new apartment buildings," Ryan told Newsday in 2020. PILOTs, or payments in lieu of taxes, are a property-tax break that IDAs can grant to developers. "It has to be linked, in my opinion, to significant job creation," he said, adding that he wasn't opposed to development but would rather see businesses and light industry than new housing.

Ryan lost his re-election bid last year to then-village trustee Waylyn Hobbs Jr., who supports housing projects.

“People are hesitant when it comes to development because they think gentrification,” Hobbs said last week in the video. But “most of the development that we’re doing is in areas where there are just empty lots. … Nobody lives there. We’re not moving anybody out of the village,” he said.

The project also secured $1 million in 2019 from Empire State Development, the state’s primary business-aid agency, for water and sewer improvements.

The other award winners include The Breeze housing and retail project on Long Beach’s Superblock site, the state’s $800 million COVID-19 grant program for small businesses, and Wyandanch community leaders LaFlorence Grant and Ghenya Grant, who are mother and daughter.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.