The mood was festive on Aug. 17 when town, county, and state officials gathered for a ceremonial groundbreaking at the future site of a 50-unit affordable housing complex on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton.
The Three Mile Harbor development, at 286 and 290 Three Mile Harbor Road, is being jointly developed by Georgica Green Ventures and the East Hampton Housing Authority. The two entities previously partnered to develop the 37-unit Gansett Meadow affordable housing complex in Amagansett.
The development, expected to be completed within 18 months, will feature 10 one-bedroom, 29 two-bedroom, and 10 three-bedroom apartments across five two-story residential buildings. A one-bedroom apartment will be set aside for the development's superintendent. A community building will feature a meeting space, kitchenette, Wi-Fi hotspot, laundry facilities, and a generator. The site will also include a playground and community patio.
Five units will be accessible and adapted for people with mobility impairments, and three will be equipped for people with hearing and/or visual impairments.
The apartments will be affordable to households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income, according to a statement issued by Gov. Kathy Hochul's office, with eight apartments serving households at 30 percent of the area median income.
The groundbreaking is the most visible result, to date, of the All Hands on Housing initiative announced in Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc's State of the Town message in January, as the acute shortage of affordable housing has driven lifelong residents from the area, lengthened the "trade parade" of traffic from points west, and strained emergency services and businesses unable to recruit volunteers or staff.
"It's not a shock to anyone that it's ridiculously expensive out here," said David Gallo, president of Georgica Green Ventures. "I think what everyone probably saw coming here today is what people who don't get a chance to live here, but work here, do every single day, and it is brutal," he said, referring to the trade parade. "You can live, really, not far, like in Riverhead . . . and it might take you two and a half hours to get here. That's not sustainable for the individual, that's not sustainable for the community."
"We are making the example for this area, for Long Island, really for the state, about what can come out of really great partnerships in places that are really hard to develop," said RuthAnne Visnauskas, commissioner of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal. "This is obviously an area that's much more known for its upscale neighborhoods, but we can't forget that it's also home to teachers and health care employees and government workers, retail, restaurant workers, volunteer firefighters, first responders, so many others, and that that's what provides strength to communities. Yet affordable housing is really out of reach for almost all of those people."
Sarah Lansdale, who became the county's commissioner of economic development and planning the day before the groundbreaking, also referred to the traffic she encountered on the way to East Hampton. "Projects like this will enable working families to be able to live in their communities and be able to enjoy the fruits of their labors and the beauty of the East End," she said, "so we're really excited to be a partner with Georgica Green and the town, the state, and all of the other partners."
Suffolk Legislator Bridget Fleming, the Democratic Party's nominee to represent the State's First Congressional District, called the day "a historic moment." "This groundbreaking effort will aid in retaining our workforce and keeping workers close to their jobs," she said. "The effects of that are considerable: certainly to reduce traffic congestion, certainly to reduce the high cost and the environmental impacts of those lengthy commutes that so many of our workforce endure." Affordable housing, she said, "has proven again and again to build community, to provide continuity, to keep taxes low by ensuring that people have the stability of having a roof over their heads."
Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. called housing "a fundamental right," adding that "every issue that we are confronting eventually goes back to affordable housing," including traffic congestion and staffing of local businesses, schools, hospitals, and emergency services. "That's why this project is so important."
Councilwomen Sylvia Overby and Cate Rogers, and Councilman David Lys attended the groundbreaking. Like Mr. Thiele, Ms. Overby encouraged all in attendance to spread the word about the Nov. 8 referendum in which voters will be asked to approve a .5-percent real estate transfer tax, in addition to the 2-percent transfer tax that funds the community preservation fund. The .5-percent tax would be allocated to the Community Housing Opportunity Fund. "I hope that you do talk to your neighbors and tell people that this is important for us and our affordable housing initiatives as we move forward," she said.
The Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act, signed into law last year, authorizes the five East End towns to establish community housing funds to be funded by the .5-percent transfer tax. Should the referendum pass, the fund would become operational in January.
Buyers of a property would pay the .5 percent transfer tax, with the first $400,000 exempt up to $2 million, beyond which the full purchase price would be taxable. First-time home buyers would be exempt.
