The 37-unit affordable housing complex under construction at 531 Montauk Highway in Amagansett is on track to be move-in ready by the end of the year, Catherine Casey, the executive director of the East Hampton Housing Authority, said on Friday.
The complex, called Gansett Meadow, will consist of seven buildings with 12 one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, plus one with four bedrooms, as well as a common building with a laundry room and meeting room.
“Five buildings are up, and three have been completely tied in with water and electric,” said Ms. Casey. “We’re more than halfway there, in terms of construction, and also financing.”
The rental apartments will be for those who work full time, year round in Suffolk County and do not own property. Renters will have to meet income eligibility requirements. Eight of the units will be subsidized, and eight will be either fully accessible or adaptable for persons with a disability, including hearing and vision impairment. Smoking will not be permitted anywhere on the property. Dogs and dangerous animals such as venomous snakes will not be permitted, but indoor pets such as cats, guinea pigs, and fish will be allowed.
At least 90 days before tenants can move in, a drawing will be held to determine the list of potential occupants, and certain people — such as honorably discharged veterans, people with disabilities, the housing insecure, and victims of domestic violence — will be given preference. Applicants will be divided into four groups: Suffolk residents with no preference, Suffolk residents with preference, non-Suffolk residents, and non-Suffolk residents with preference. The first four units will be rented to applicants with the highest number of preferences.
Although Ms. Casey had anticipated that firefighters would also be given preference, the state is not likely to allow it, she said. “They asked me for a lot of demographic data, and firefighters are very white and male. The state’s not comfortable because they feel that would give an edge to a racial demographic.”
Firefighters should not be discouraged from applying, however. “What we can do locally is make sure all the fire districts are aware of the opportunity,” she said.
In April, the housing authority and its partner, Georgica Green Ventures, secured a $16 million line of credit with TD Bank for construction, and struck a deal with Boston Financial Investment Management, a real estate investment company, which purchased the more than $12 million of federal and state tax credits allocated for the project. Nearly $6 million in funding will be provided by the state’s Housing Trust Fund and Middle Income Housing Project, and more than 1.1 million from the Suffolk County Infrastructure Subsidy program.
When a groundbreaking ceremony was held in August, the site contained just the concrete slabs on which the buildings would sit, said Ms. Casey, but since then construction has been progressing rapidly.
The houses, which are being fabricated by Simplex Homes, a modular home builder in Scranton, Pa., arrive on site mostly finished. “The appliances are not in, but the interior trim is, the walls are painted, and the fixtures are in,” she said.
“I went to Simplex when the first two boxes were completed because I needed to stand inside to see what it felt like,” she said. During her inspection, she recommended a new color for the grout in the bathroom (she requested white instead of gray), and nixed a suggestion to reposition windows in order to maximize wall space for a television. “I’m not designing a building for a TV,” she told them. On the whole, she has been overjoyed with Simplex’s work. Everything’s beautiful,” she said.
She is particularly impressed with the kitchens, which feature subway tile on the walls between the upper and lower cabinets, and inch-thick countertops made of manufactured stone.
The first buildings erected were placed at the front of property, which is within 500 feet of a fire hydrant. “The houses are considered combustible materials so you need to have adequate firefighting capabilities, and there were no hydrants in the back,” she said. “Now the hydrant in back is in, so we can crank away and get the other buildings completed.” On Monday, the project hit another milestone: Crews began working on the exteriors.
Before the housing authority can distribute applications for the units, it must develop a marketing plan that details how the complex will be managed and how tenants will be selected, Ms. Casey said. “The East Hampton Housing Authority does not discriminate on the basis of race or religion or gender identity or anything, we just don’t. Our population is more representative, and more diverse than the general population. So, I think that demonstrates our practice,” she said.
Nevertheless, the state wants that spelled out. It is also asking for specifics about everything from what day of the month the rent will be due to how evictions will be handled. “All of that has to be detailed in writing,” said Ms. Casey. “We’ve already had four iterations, and they’ll come back and say, ‘Okay you have to add this language, and cite this law,’ ” she said.
If all goes as planned, the buildings should receive their certificates of occupancy in October, she said, and she’s hoping to have the applications available at least six months prior.
At that point, the housing authority will advertise the opportunity in local newspapers, on local radio, and on the state’s website. “And we’ll print reams of applications,” said Ms. Casey. “We’ll distribute them to town offices, fire and school districts, libraries, everywhere. We just want to get them out there.”
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Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the Gansett Meadow pet policy. Dogs and dangerous indoor pets such as venomous snakes will not be allowed, but other indoor pets such as cats, guinea pigs, and fish will be permitted.
