$50M in upgrades planned for Great Neck public housing complex

A Glen Cove-based developer plans to spend nearly $50 million to renovate a dilapidated public housing building in Great Neck, the building's first major revamp in nearly half a century.

Georgica Green Ventures, which has rehabilitated other public housing projects on Long Island, plans to spend nearly $49.4 million to renovate the 75-unit building, according to an application the developer filed with the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency in November. The agency also gave the developer 30 years of tax relief for the renovation.

Great Neck Senior Citizens Housing, at 700 Middle Neck Rd., was built in 1983. Federal housing inspectors in 2022 and 2024 found it was plagued by roaches and mold, a Newsday investigation found. 

The property is one of hundreds of aging public housing buildings across the state struggling to keep up with the rising cost of repairs, according to a report from two housing nonprofit investors. Other complexes on Long Island also have similar redevelopment plans on tap, including a $23 million revamp of a 420-unit affordable housing project in the Village of Hempstead, Newsday reported.

The building’s 62 residents — all seniors or persons with a disability — will be relocated to vacant apartments within the complex during the renovation, said Janice Sotero, the executive director of the Village of Great Neck Housing Authority, which owns and manages the property.

Residents pay 30% of their income toward rent, Sotero said.

The renovation will include repairs to the building’s mechanical systems and the replacement of the apartments' bathrooms and kitchens, Sotero said. It will begin in March and last for about 27 months, according to the application.

Developer gets tax incentives

The Nassau County IDA approved 30 years of tax relief on Jan. 29 for Georgica Green and the housing authority, which will become joint owners.

The IDA declined to disclose the value of the real estate tax savings. Newsday filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the agency on Feb. 2.

Under the agreement, Georgica Green will pay far more in payments to Great Neck than the current taxes, said Daniel Deegan, a partner at Forchelli Deegan Terrana in Uniondale representing Georgica Green, at the Jan. 29 IDA meeting. 

For example, the development team will pay $102,328 to the village, schools, county and town in 2027, the first year of the agreement, according to the IDA documents. In 2024, the housing authority paid just $1,200.27 to the Village of Great Neck, per the application.

The developer will fund roughly 78% of the renovation with public money, according to its application. Georgica Green will receive $29.5 million in state bonds from the New York State Housing Finance Agency, plus $8.9 million in other public financing, according to Georgica Green's application. The project will create around 40 construction jobs.

A representative for Georgica Green declined to comment on the renovation work or the tax benefits.

Much needed repairs

The Middle Neck Road building is in “great need of rehabilitation,” Deegan said at the IDA meeting. Residents, he said, are living in poor conditions.

The building failed two consecutive federal housing inspections in 2022 and 2024, partly due to the roaches and “high levels” of mold inspectors discovered in the building, a Newsday investigation found. It received a passing grade in April last year, according to federal data.

Sotero said funding for the housing authority has not kept up with cost of repairs, and that her agency implemented a corrective action plan last year.

Throughout the state, managers of affordable housing buildings — where apartments are reserved for households with incomes below certain thresholds — struggle to keep up with rising repair costs, according to an October report from Enterprise Community Partners, a Manhattan-based nonprofit developer and housing investor, and National Equity Fund, a nonprofit real estate investment manager.

The two nonprofits found that, in the 428 affordable properties they manage across New York, operating expenses have increased roughly 40% from 2017 to 2024 due to higher insurance and administrative and repair costs. At the same time, rent collections dropped during the pandemic and have not fully recovered.