Westbury approves apartment complex on MTA parking lot site
A rendering of Gotham Organization’s planned mixed-use, multifamily project at the site of a former MTA parking lot at the Westbury LIRR station. Credit: MTA
A New York City developer's plan to build 184 apartments on an MTA parking lot won approval from the Village of Westbury as it aims to convert an industrial area into a neighborhood near its Long Island Rail Road station.
The village approved Gotham Organization's site plan on Sept. 3, and the developer could start construction next year, with the apartments opening in 2029, Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro said.
The $100 million project, on a lot just south of the LIRR station, would also include ground-floor retail space and a public plaza on the 1.9-acre site, according to documents published by the MTA.
The new five-story mixed-use building is the type the village hoped to attract when it created a 52-acre zone to encourage development near the train station, Cavallaro said. The hope is that the new building will serve as a gateway to the village's downtown and bring in customers for Post Avenue businesses in an area that had been mostly industrial, he said.
"This fits right into the vision we had when we rezoned the property," he said.
Ten percent of the building, or 19 units, must have rents that qualify as affordable housing for people earning 80% or less of the area median income. While it's unclear what those rents might be when the building opens, that income threshold is $92,050 for an individual or $105,200 for a couple this year, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Rents at a new building in Hicksville where some apartments must meet that standard are priced at $2,309 a month for a one-bedroom and $2,755 for a two-bedroom. Tenants will be selected through a housing lottery that runs through Sept. 28.
Cavallaro said Westbury made it a requirement to offer 10% of the units as affordable housing when it created its transit-oriented development zone. He noted that some towns permit more lenient affordability standards, creating minimal discounts for tenants compared with what they might pay on the open market.
"We thought 80% of area median income was a legitimate attempt to make those units truly affordable to people who might not otherwise be able to get those units," he said.
Gotham will enter a 99-year lease on the property and pay $750,000 per year during the construction period and then pay $500,000 in base rent with rents due to increase 12.5% every five years, according to MTA documents.
The Manhattan-based developer won a request for proposals to develop the MTA-owned site, which also received proposals from developers Terwilliger & Bartone, L+M Development and Tritec.
Bryan Kelly, Gotham's president of development, said in an emailed statement that Gotham was interested in building there because of the village's support for housing and the prime location of the site near highways, the LIRR station, restaurants, shopping and Eisenhower Park.
"Westbury offers a rare combination of strong local leadership, walkability and regional connectivity," he said.
The new apartments are among several hundred built or proposed in the past few years. Alpine Residential is planning 187 apartments within the transit-oriented zone on Linden Avenue, and Terwilliger & Bartone opened the 131-unit Cornerstone Westbury in 2023.
The Beechwood Organization also recently proposed a 90-unit condo-hotel on Merrick Avenue in Westbury where condo owners can rent out their units if they spend winters elsewhere.
A decade ago, Westbury was the first Long Island community to receive a state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant of $10 million, which it used in part to improve the streetscape along Post Avenue through expanded sidewalks, street lighting and new plantings.
It received state designation as a pro-housing community in 2024, which qualifies the village for $750 million in discretionary funds from the state.
"My personal philosophy is not every community should be required to do this type of redevelopment," Cavallaro said. "But for communities that are either on a train line or otherwise amenable, I think this type of development is really needed on Long Island."
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.
