Developers of proposed Mineola apartment building want tax breaks

The developers of a proposed 54-unit apartment building in Mineola have started negotiating with the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency for potential tax breaks.

Mineola-based Searing Group LLC — whose principals are Doron Pergament and Edward Zarabi — want to build The Royal Blue Residential Development, a six-story rental complex, on the empty lots at 101 and 105 Searing Ave.

The IDA voted at a Dec. 15 meeting to start negotiations.

The developers are seeking sales tax benefits of $1,466,250 and a $213,817.50 exemption on the mortgage recording tax.

They also are requesting a 22-year PILOT — Payment In Lieu of Taxes — agreement, according to the developer’s application for financial assistance.

Once a potential deal is reached, a hearing will be scheduled for the public to weigh in before a final vote.

“The reality is, but for the assistance that this project will receive from the IDA, it may or may not be built,” said State Senator-elect Jack Martins, a former Mineola mayor and the attorney for the developers.

He called the project "extraordinarily expensive" to build and said "without relief, the numbers just become very difficult.”

Martins said the developers are prepared to move forward with the project right after potentially receiving IDA approvals. He noted the project falls within the village’s downtown Development Incentive Bonus Overlay district, created to attract these types of residential developments.

Mayor Paul A. Pereira said two single family homes — since demolished — were on the property, but this proposed development would help fill the need for more housing and increase tax revenue.

“Housing is needed on Long Island, and it fits our master plan,” Pereira said. “Though the developer will go to the IDA, there will be a community benefits agreement, where the village will be made whole on the village portion of the taxes.”

The proposed $33.5 million project would include 46 one-bedroom units and eight two-bedroom units, records show. Six units would be considered affordable housing and rented at lower rates.

The lots are at a dead end and adjacent to the two-building, 192-unit Fairfield Metro apartment complex that opened in 2019.

There's a baseball field behind the lots and railroad tracks separate the property from single family homes and a commercial area.

“Mineola is growing in leaps and bounds … and I think it’s an exciting time for the village,” said Nassau IDA Chairman Richard Kessel.