Wyandanch Rising project will include affordable apartments for seniors 62 and over

A fourth building slated for the first phase of the Wyandanch Rising development will offer 94 affordable apartments for senior citizens and is anticipated to receive an $11.2 million tax break.

Construction on the building for active seniors 62 and over is planned for the first quarter of next year, according to master developer Albanese Organization Inc. of Garden City.

Selfhelp Community Services Inc., a not-for-profit independent living organization, will co-own building D, along with Albanese, said Selfhelp spokeswoman Linda M. Pekunka.

Deputy Supervisor Tony Martinez visited one of Selfhelp’s Flushing facilities and liked what he saw.

“Their buildings were immaculate, their landscaping was immaculate,” he said.

There will be a green space for residents, as well as a community garden, an Albanese spokeswoman said.

There will be 53 studio apartments and 41 one-bedroom apartments, Pekunka said, and Selfhelp will provide on-site social services and develop social, educational and health and wellness programming for residents.

Babylon Industrial Development Agency, a public authority that grants tax breaks to projects with industrial uses or workforce housing and that create or retain jobs, recently granted preliminary approval to Albanese for an $11.2 million tax break over 30 years. The developer would pay $4.8 million during that period.

The IDA will vote to grant final approval at a future meeting.

Building D would be the fourth building to be constructed in Phase I of Wyandanch Rising, a public-private project with transit-oriented development to improve the economically distressed community.

The building at 11 Park Dr. would wrap around the north and west sides of the Long Island Rail Road parking garage, creating a single-corridor building with all units looking north and west, according to the Albanese spokeswoman.

The developer wouldn’t answer questions related to the cost of the building.

For the entire Wyandanch Rising project, the town has received $6.6 million in federal funds, $61.6 million in state funds and $34 million in county funds — $20 million of which was bonded for. The town has spent $51.1 million of its funds on the project, a town spokesman said, and has received $18.2 million from Empire State Development as a reimbursement grant.

Albanese received tax breaks for the two mixed-use buildings in the development and a third one, building E, being constructed, IDA spokesman Brendan Murphy said.

Albanese will save $15.5 million over 40 years on building E, while paying $10.6 million over that period, Murphy said.

It’s unclear how much the tax breaks were for buildings A and B.

Martinez noted that while building D is in Phase I of the development, all on the north side of the train tracks, engineering for Phase II — on the south side — has begun.

“It’s very important for us to connect the south side to the north side,” Martinez said.