Foreclosed Brookhaven Town homes to be fixed up for needy
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko in an undated file photo. Credit: Richard Slattery
A handful of foreclosed properties in Bellport and East Patchogue will be turned over to nonprofit housing groups to be rehabilitated for needy families, according to Brookhaven officials.
Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk and the Long Island Housing Partnership will take control of the nine properties. Suffolk County had taken the properties for back taxes owed and then transferred them to Brookhaven to distribute to the town’s housing partners.
The Brookhaven Town board unanimously voted at last week’s meeting to transfer the properties.
“These properties will soon be transformed into affordable housing thanks to the Town’s partnership with the county, the Long Island Housing Partnership and Habitat for Humanity,” Supervisor Mark Lesko said in a news release about the vote. “Tonight we have started the process of making home ownership a reality for working families and improving the quality of life for other families in the neighborhoods that have had to live near these abandoned properties for so many years.”
The nonprofit organizations will assess the structures and determine whether the homes need to be demolished to make way for new single-family homes, which would be steered to first-time home buyers who meet qualifications. Brookhaven contributes by waiving certain fees and assists with the planning, zoning, and building processes.
The properties going to Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk include three Narragansett Avenue parcels, a Bayview Avenue home and an Amsterdam Avenue property. The LIHP properties are on Lenox Avenue in East Patchogue, and Meade Avenue, Pace Avenue and Doane Avenue in Bellport. The town also recently transferred a Shirley property to Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk.
