A rendering of the Northridge Square apartment and office building...

A rendering of the Northridge Square apartment and office building proposed on New York Avenue near the Long Island Rail Road station. Credit: Blue & Gold Holdings

The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency will try again this month to decide whether a proposed apartment building in Huntington Station will receive tax breaks.

IDA executive director Anthony J. Catapano said on Friday that the Northridge Square project will be on the agenda for the April 22 meeting of the agency’s seven-member board of directors.

At last month’s meeting, a quorum of four votes was lacking to act on a resolution granting $760,400 in tax breaks over 15 years to developer Blue & Gold Holdings in Huntington Station. Three board members voted "yea," one voted "nay" and one abstained. Two others were absent.

"After discussion with board members, the application for BGNYAVE LLC — Northridge Square will be considered at the April 22, 2021 IDA Board Meeting so that hopefully the full board of seven members will have the opportunity to consider and weigh in on the application for IDA assistance," Catapano said. "While the project appears to fit within the agency’s existing policies and criteria, each member is within their right to vote as they see fit."

He was responding to a request for comment by Newsday after Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone called on the IDA board "to act swiftly in support" of Northridge Square in a March 26 letter to Catapano.

The $6 million project is 20,337 square feet and would be located on New York Avenue near the Long Island Rail Road station. The multistory building would have 16 one-bedroom apartments — three of them with below-market rents — and space for offices or stores on the first floor.

In his two-page letter, Bellone said Northridge Square "represents smart and sustainable mixed-use development" which aligns with Suffolk's economic development strategy to attract young workers to downtowns. He rarely comments publicly about projects before the IDA board.

Bellone noted that Blue & Gold’s first project in the area, The Northridge apartment building, received IDA help five years ago. That building is home to an expanded May’s Gourmet Café, which is owned by Huntington Station resident May Ramos.

Both Northridge projects are part of a larger effort to revitalize the area.

"Transit-oriented, multifamily [development] is a boon to local communities and it is what people want," said Bellone, who as Babylon Town supervisor championed the Wyandanch Rising project to remove blight in that community.

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