Discounted apartments in East Patchogue available through housing lottery
Greybarn Patchogue on East Main Street offers amenities including a 16-seat cinema and a 24-hour fitness center. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Long Island apartment seekers can apply for one of 14 discounted units available through a housing lottery at Greybarn Patchogue.
The building, which opened in May at 303 E. Main St. in East Patchogue, offers amenities including in-unit washers and dryers as well as access to a ground-floor resident lounge, 16-seat cinema and a 24-hour fitness center. There’s also outdoor barbecue grills and a pool area.
Applications through the nonprofit Long Island Housing Partnership will be open through June 22, and the nonprofit said it has already received more than 700 since late May. The 91-unit Greybarn is the latest building on Long Island where demand for affordable units has far exceeded available slots.
“It shows there’s such a need for affordable housing out there. It’s crazy,” said Peter Elkowitz, president and CEO of the Long Island Housing Partnership. “Every single one of these we do, you have hundreds and sometimes thousands of people actually applying for them.”
The lottery apartments at Greybarn Patchogue include a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, with rents ranging from $1,655 to $3,328.
Those rents reflect different income requirements associated with the lottery. Single tenants must earn between $44,376 to $138,000 to qualify, while couples can earn up to $157,750 and still qualify for some of the units, according to the program’s guidelines.
In addition, the nonprofit is holding a separate lottery to award one unit to a U.S. military veteran for a one-bedroom priced at $1,848. Individuals earning up to $92,050 or couples earning up to $105,200 are eligible.
The rents qualify as affordable because they are designed to take up no more than 30% of a household’s gross income, including utility costs, according to a standard set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Market-rate rents at Greybarn Patchogue range from $3,210 for a one-bedroom unit to $4,400 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit, excluding utility fees, according to listings on the building’s website. The three-story building is located on the site of the former Mediterranean Manor catering hall,
Renters seeking apartments on a budget of $2,500 a month or less often struggle to find listings in their price range on Long Island, Newsday has reported.
That leads them to turn to affordable housing opportunities like Greybarn, where developer Rechler Equity Partners agreed to set aside a certain number of units at lower rents in exchange for tax incentives from the Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency.
“The affordable housing lottery reflects the tremendous demand for housing across Long Island and the need for developments that provide opportunities for people at different income levels to live close to where they work and raise their families,” Rechler Equity Partners said in an emailed statement to Newsday.
Greybarn Patchogue received a $1.5 million sales tax exemption and a $315,000 mortgage recording tax exemption from the Brookhaven IDA. It also entered a payment in lieu of taxes agreement to pay $4.8 million over 13 years before full taxes take effect, public documents show.
Frederick C. Braun III, chairman of the IDA, declined to comment on the project's latest milestone.
The Brookhaven IDA has been weighing whether it should continue to offer such tax incentives to housing developers. Board member John Rose drew criticism last week from groups representing builders and civil-rights organizations after saying he opposed housing incentives because they attract residents who are “lazy” and don’t “appreciate the way of life that we have here on Long Island.”
The discounted units will also help support local businesses by providing housing options for workers, said James Britz, Long Island Housing Partnership’s chief operating officer.
“They can make sure their restaurants stay open and their downtown is busy,” he said “Because the more types of housing you can build, the more opportunities there are for people to stay close to where they work.”
Interested applicants can find more information at lihp.org/project/greybarn-patchogue.
Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.
