Port Jefferson Village revamp's latest phase includes 52 affordable apartments

Affordable apartments are slated to replace several blighted commercial buildings on Main Street in Port Jefferson as the revitalization plan for the area around the village's train station enters its next phase.

The developers of Perry & Main marked the start of construction in a ceremony Thursday with local officials, who were eager to see the vacant buildings demolished.

The new $38 million building will include 52 apartments for tenants and one for a building superintendent, with units awarded through a lottery to tenants who meet income requirements. 

The one- and two-bedroom apartments are scheduled to open in early 2028 with about 2,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The same developers, Conifer Realty and Community Development Long Island, opened the 45-unit Port Jefferson Crossing next door in 2023. 

Perry & Main is one of several housing developments planned for Main Street in the South Village area of Port Jefferson as part of a decadelong revitalization plan, said Lauren Sheprow, the village's mayor.

"We're starting a real hub of development and investment in our community, and we're excited to see it move forward," Sheprow said at Thursday's event.

Rents at the new building, for which developers received government subsidies, are expected to range from about $780 to $2,700 a month based on rules set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Those pricing guidelines are updated annually.

The below-market rents are designed to help people live in Port Jefferson who might otherwise have to search elsewhere for housing, said Gwen O’Shea, president and CEO of Community Development Long Island, a Melville-based nonprofit.

"Across all communities — it’s not solely the Village of Port Jefferson — on Long Island, there is a large percentage of individuals and families that want to stay in a community but, from an affordability perspective, they can’t," O’Shea said. "We don’t have enough housing at every income scale for what Long Islanders are looking for."

The developers are confident there will be ample demand for apartments after the 2023 housing lottery for Port Jefferson Crossing received thousands of applications.

There are about 800 prospective tenants remaining on the waitlist, said Lisa Kaseman, senior vice president at Rochester-based Conifer Realty.

"We saw a significant need for seniors and family households alike, and frankly, we would love to build more than 53," Kaseman told Newsday.

Other developers have either finished projects or are planning to develop nearby. The Gitto Group opened 35 apartments in a new mixed-use building last year at 1 N. Country Rd., and has plans for 42 more on Main Street at a proposed mixed-use building called The Baxter. 

Further south, just outside the village on Route 112, Staller Associates has proposed a $190 million mixed-use development with 280 apartments.

The average asking rent is $2,972 in central Suffolk County, which includes Port Jefferson, according to commercial real estate data provider CoStar. That average includes only market-rate units and excludes senior housing and affordable buildings like Perry & Main. 

At Perry & Main, all units will meet federal affordability standards, which require a person’s housing costs take up no more than 30% of their gross income.

The Port Jefferson apartments will be priced between 30% and 80% of area median income, which translates to $34,550 to $92,050 for an individual or $39,450 to $105,200 for a couple, according to HUD standards.

Five units will be set aside for tenants with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and military veterans will get first preference for five other units.

Chad Spruyt, a 49-year-old Port Jefferson Station resident, said the apartments would be an improvement from the vacant storefronts on Main Street and he hoped the rents would be adequate to keep the building maintained once it opens.

"I think it’s fantastic," Spruyt said Thursday while eating lunch at the neighborhood bar and restaurant, Tara Inn. "It’s worked in Patchogue, it’s worked in Bay Shore, it’s worked in Ronkonkoma, and the whole area needs to be cleaned up."

Members of the Port Jefferson Civic Association have asked the developers to consider how denser housing could harm the environment. They requested builders take steps to prevent bird collisions when installing windows and create a living wall on the building's facade, said Ana Hozyainova, the group's president. 

"We believe it’s important for us to stop thinking it’s either development or greenery," Hozyainova said. "We have to figure out a way to incorporate both."

While a living wall of plants might not be feasible, said Phil Bartkovich, development manager at Conifer Realty, the company aims to address those concerns with window screens and greenery on the building's rooftop patio.

To offer below-market rents, the developers received substantial government support.

That included $9 million in low-income housing tax credits and subsidies from New York Homes and Community Renewal, $3 million from Empire State Development and $2 million from Port Jefferson Village through the Restore NY program.

The Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency also awarded the developers a $938,000 sales tax exemption and a nearly $225,000 mortgage recording tax exemption.

The building owners also agreed, in lieu of taxes, to pay $4.3 million over 30 years, or about $144,000 annually on average, with payments increasing gradually over time. The previous buildings paid about $26,000 a year.

"It’s extremely expensive to develop on Long Island," O'Shea said. "It doesn’t happen without a partnership between municipalities and developers, and it doesn’t happen without extensive subsidy." 

By Jonathan LaMantia

jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com@jonlamantia

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.