Tax breaks OKd for apartment project in Farmingdale

A Farmingdale apartment project has been approved for tax breaks by the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency.

The agency last week approved tax breaks for the Cornerstone at Farmingdale project, an $8.1 million, 42-unit apartment building at 100 Secatogue Ave. adjacent to the Long Island Rail Road and across the street from the train station.

The project is being built by developer Anthony Bartone's Farmingdale-based Cornerstone at Farmingdale LLC. He is also building a 154-unit complex, called Jefferson at Farmingdale Plaza, on the other side of the railroad tracks.

The tax breaks are worth at least $355,563 and include a mortgage recording tax exemption and sales tax exemption.

He will also get a payment in lieu of taxes agreement that will set the effective tax rates lower than they would normally be. For the first two years of the project, the PILOT will be frozen at $40,631, the current rate of taxes on the property, which has two commercial buildings on it. In the third year, the PILOT will increase to $105,000 and then increase by 1.5 percent annually for the next 17 years.

The project will have 28 studio apartments, 10 one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom apartments, and include a fitness center, club room and rooftop patio. Groundbreaking is expected by the end of September.