55 affordable apartments open on former Superfund site in Glen Cove

A $1 billion development containing 55 affordable apartments has opened in Glen Cove on a former Superfund site.

Developers and officials from New York and Long Island opened The Green at Garvies Point on Thursday. It has two four-story buildings with 29 two-bedroom apartments, 16 one-bedroom apartments, four studios, six three-bedroom units and nine apartments reserved for people with mobility, hearing or visual impairments.

The $32.3 million project by Jericho-based Georgica Green Ventures was included in the $1 billion master plan by Uniondale developer RXR to add 1,100 market-rate apartments and condos in the coming years along the Garvies Point waterfront in Glen Cove.

The new affordable apartments, which are built next to market-rate apartments on Dickson Street, sit on a former industrial site that now has walking trails, a kayak launch and two dog parks, Georgica President David Gallo said.

“Building affordable housing is tough,” Gallo said. “This is a really thought-out, comprehensive plan and should be the model of future developments on Superfund sites.”

Developers also plan to build 56 affordable condos across the street from the complex, which officials said may be one of the first such complexes in the state. The affordable apartments and condos are part of an agreement with RXR to devote 10% of its units to affordable housing in line with the median income.

The Green at Garvies Point was funded with $13.4 million in federal low-income housing tax credits, $7.7 million in state Homes and Community Renewal funding, $900,000 in Nassau County HUD funding, IDA assistance and other bank financing.

The development is one of six affordable housing projects and 500 new homes on Long Island, said RuthAnne Visnauskas, commissioner for the state Division of Homes and Community Renewal. She noted New York State had created 1.2 million jobs in the past decade, but only 400,000 new housing units.

She said other projects in Freeport, Farmingdale and North Hempstead were almost complete and would add 175 new apartments. The state has helped add about 1,200 affordable apartments on Long Island in the past five years, but she said it's "not enough."

“It's no secret that there’s a housing crisis in the state that’s especially acute here on Long Island, where businesses are thriving and people want to live,” Visnauskas said. “We really need to increase our housing production so that people that want to live here can find opportunities to live here.”

Officials said the new affordable units would add to the diverse makeup of the community by bringing in different socioeconomic and family backgrounds. Apartments also were awarded to 17 people with Section 8 housing vouchers.

The development was built to be energy efficient on a former blighted property known as Captain’s Cove, 23 acres  that included the LI Tungsten Superfund site and the Wah Chang Smelting and Refining Co. until 1984. Remediation was completed in 2008, and it was deemed ready for use in 2020, according to state records. 

Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck, who grew up near Garvies Point, said the region had been transformed into a waterfront development, with parking and restaurants. 

“I did not know that I lived on a toxic waste site,” Panzenbeck said. “I want to thank you for making this beautiful opportunity for people to live here. Can you imagine: Anyone can walk down along the esplanade. It doesn't matter where you came from, but you're able to live here now."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.