Developer seeks tax breaks for 104 senior, affordable apartments in Brookhaven

A developer wants to build more than 100 new apartments for seniors at an existing Brookhaven retirement community, with the help of 50 years of tax breaks.

WBP Development applied for up to about $1.8 million in tax breaks from the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency to support the $56.2 million project, which would add 104 apartments to Woodcrest Estates, a senior living complex at 100 Woodcrest Dr. in Terryville.

The new apartments, across four, two-story buildings, would be built on a plot on the south side of Route 347, according to the developer's IDA application. 

The units — 88 one-bedrooms and 16 two-bedrooms — would be reserved for seniors above the age of 62 and with incomes ranging from 30% to 60% of the area median income.

But there's a long road ahead before the units can be built.

WBP's attorney Timothy Shea told the IDA board in August the project needs to secure town approvals and WBP Development plans to seek state funding. The developer expects residents to begin moving in by 2030, according to the application.

But if the apartments are built, Woodcrest Estates would become one of the largest senior, affordable living complexes in Brookhaven, according to a 2025 survey examining affordable housing in the town.

The new elevator buildings would also allow some older current residents to move into accessible apartments, William Balter, a co-founder of WBP Development, told the IDA in August.

"It's not only increasing the supply of affordable senior housing in Brookhaven, but it's also allowing our residents who really need handicap accessible apartments to move into phase two when we get that done," Balter said.

Balter said WBP also plans to renovate the existing units during construction. WBP expects the new buildings to create 200 construction jobs, plus about three permanent jobs to manage the new buildings, according to its application.

Westchester County-based WBP finished building the 256-unit Woodcrest Estates retirement community around 2001, Balter said. At the time, the company secured $19.2 million in bond financing from the Brookhaven IDA to help finance the construction, according to the application.

For the new units, WBP requested up to about $1.4 million in sales tax abatements and a mortgage recording tax exemption of $366,933, plus 50 years of tax breaks, Brookhaven IDA CEO Lisa Mulligan told Newsday in an email.

The IDA has not yet approved the benefits, though the board seemed in favor of the project during the August meeting. Board member Martin Callahan noted that his mother is one of Woodcrest's current residents.

"She loves it. She's got some friends and they have a nice clubhouse," Callahan said. "So my personal [opinion] is that it's a great project."