Hicksville housing lottery offers apartments at below-market rents at The Lisle near LIRR station
Long Islanders looking for their next apartment can apply through Sept. 28 for units with discounted rents at The Lisle in Hicksville, a building opening across from the hamlet's busy LIRR station.
The Long Island Housing Partnership is holding a lottery to select tenants who meet income qualifications for 19 apartments in Alpine Residential’s 189-unit The Lisle at 100 Nelson Ave.
The apartments are among several hundred planned in Hicksville as part of the Town of Oyster Bay’s downtown revitalization plan for the area.
The Long Island Housing Partnership anticipates hundreds of applications based on its past experience with Nassau County lotteries, which tend to see higher demand than Suffolk opportunities, said James Britz, chief operating officer at the nonprofit.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A housing lottery is open now for 19 apartments offering below-market prices at The Lisle in Hicksville.
- The lottery units offer rents from $2,165 a month for a studio to $4,022 for a three-bedroom.
- The apartments are among several hundred planned for the area around Hicksville's Long Island Rail Road station.
"Whenever we have a Nassau County development, depending on what the income levels are, the demand is usually very, very high," Britz said.
At The Lisle, lottery units range from a studio for $2,165 a month to a three-bedroom for $4,022 a month. There are also four one-bedroom units priced at $2,309 and four two-bedroom units priced at $2,755.
Those prices meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s standard for affordability, which requires housing costs to take up no more than 30% of a person’s income.
While those rents won’t be affordable for renters of all incomes, they come at a discount compared with the building’s advertised market-rate units.
Studios in the building start at $3,143, and the cheapest two-bedroom unit costs $4,725 a month, according to the building’s website. The asking rent for the highest-priced three-bedroom units is $6,399.
Amenities in the building, which has not yet opened, will include a courtyard pool, a fitness center, a pet spa and co-working spaces, which are covered by a monthly amenity fee. The building will include ground-floor retail space and an underground parking garage.
The eligibility standards are split, with some units allowing incomes of up to 80% of the area median and others allowing up to 100%. An individual could earn up to $115,000 and qualify, while a couple could earn $131,450, according to the program’s income guidelines.
Larger families can qualify at higher incomes. A family of four seeking the three-bedroom could earn up to $164,300 and qualify.
Other proposed projects nearby include the 106-unit Cornerstone Hicksville on Jerusalem Avenue and the 141-unit Fieldstone at North Broadway near West John Street. The former Broadway Mall also is slated for a $200 million redevelopment into an open-air shopping center called The Shops on Broadway.
The lottery is an important milestone for the area, Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in an emailed statement to Newsday. But he said even affordable housing can be expensive for young families.
"As we continue to see new investment and redevelopment throughout the community, it is important that we create opportunities for people at different stages of life to live in Hicksville," he said.
The Lisle project received $1 million from Oyster Bay Town in downtown revitalization funds. It also received $30 million in support from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, including $25.6 million in real estate tax savings, a $4 million sales tax exemption and a nearly $607,000 mortgage recording tax exemption.
After the savings, Alpine Residential will pay $23.6 million in payments in lieu of taxes over 20 years, according to IDA documents.
Without that tax savings, the project wouldn't have been financially feasible, according to an economic analysis conducted for the IDA's review by Manhattan-based Grow America, which provides technical assistance to municipalities.
Over the more than three-year construction process, the developer was receptive to community concerns on issues such as the fire risk posed by underground electric vehicle chargers, said Joel Berse, the immediate past president of the Northwest Civic Association in Hicksville.
The new apartments will provide an alternative in Hicksville to illegal rentals within houses, which create excessive trash and competition for street parking.
"It can solve the problem of people that are illegally renting that causes trickle down effects in the area," Berse said.
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.
