Hochul: Developer Heatherwood Communities LLC to build nearly 500 homes on Conklin Street in East Farmingdale

Heatherwood Communities LLC will develop nearly 500 homes on a 13-acre vacant state-owned site on Conklin Street in East Farmingdale, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday.

The $200 million development will build 495 homes, including more than 100 affordable units, and clean up any lingering contamination at the site, which was used for airplane manufacturing until the '90s, according to a state news release. The affordable homes will be available for households earning an average 80% of the area median income, which is $120,550 for a family of four on Long Island, according to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

“By leveraging state-owned land and partnering with experienced local developers, we are turning our historic housing commitments into reality and building a more affordable New York in communities across the state, including in Long Island,” Hochul said in a statement.

Milestone initiative in Suffolk

The development marks the first use of state land in Suffolk County for an initiative to build more than 15,000 housing units across New York adopted by the state in 2024 to combat an affordable housing crisis, Newsday has reported. 

The Farmingdale development will include townhouse units, along with apartments ranging in size from studio to three bedrooms, for rent in buildings as tall as five stories.

The development comes with 630 parking spaces and a covered garage, a walking trail and a public space honoring the aviation history at the site.

The proposed development will be built on land that’s currently controlled by the state Department of Transportation, as part of the public Republic Airport.

The developer, Heatherwood, will need to work with the transportation department, Empire State Development and the Town of Babylon as it secures the necessary approvals for the project.

In a news release, the state called the site “ideally suited for transit-oriented” development, highlighting its proximity to the Farmingdale and Pinelawn Long Island Rail Road stations, as well as Route 110.

Local lawmakers lauded the project as an opportunity to revitalize the area and provide more housing to a region in dire need of affordable units.

“Revitalizing our communities is the foundation for providing additional housing, boosting local businesses and keeping people on Long Island,” said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine in a statement.

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer in a statement praised Hochul for helping clean up what the Farmingdale community “knows as the mulch pit site.”

“This project will turn a long-blighted property into new homes, jobs and open space at the front door of our Route 110 corridor,” he said.

'Forward thinking'

The incoming development is "a very positive sign for Long Island, for our economy and our ability to develop" affordable housing and more diverse housing options in the region,  which has been struggling with a housing crisis in recent years, said Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association, a regional business nonprofit. 

The hundreds of apartments to be built will be "crucial to helping keep young professionals and others here on Long Island, and help them to be able to better afford it," he said.

"This type of public-private partnership where you have a private developer developing housing on a state-owned site is exactly the type of forward thinking that we need to be able to address our recent challenges," Cohen added. Developing underutilized properties "should be a model to what we want to do moving forward," and will be a "boon to our economy."

Heatherwood Communities will secure financing to facilitate the project and may apply for public funding such as tax credits from the state Brownfield Cleanup Program, an initiative meant to promote the redevelopment of sites with environmental contaminants, said Emily Mijatovic, a spokeswoman for Empire State Development. 

Construction will likely take around three years and Heatherwood will continue to manage the property after it's built, she said. 

The developer bid to build on the property because, even as "development capital continues to leave the region, Heatherwood felt it was important to invest in our hometown where new multifamily housing is sorely needed to ensure long-term economic sustainability here on Long Island," said Sean Sallie, senior director of planning and development at Heatherwood. 

"With a 75-year history of excellence, Heatherwood is uniquely positioned to deliver essential housing to one of Long Island’s most vital employment hubs that is readily accessible to public transit. This development offers transformative opportunity to clean up a long-neglected, blighted site and generate positive economic impact through new construction jobs," he said in an email.  

Heatherwood owner Douglas Partrick similarly highlighted the project's intent to address the "critical need for housing on Long Island," create construction jobs and generate "meaningful economic growth for generations to come."

The site's former use for aviation-based manufacturing has left the possibility for lingering contamination at the site, but a Heatherwood environmental consultant is investigating "if and to what extent" cleanup may be required, according to Sallie and Mijatovic. 

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.