Riverside land purchase for affordable housing project could ‘set the scene’ for revitalization, Southampton officials say

Southampton Town held a public hearing Tuesday on a plan to use $2.4 million to purchase land for a new mixed-use affordable housing complex in Riverside that officials said could “set the scene” for revitalization plans there.

The town plans to partner with Georgica Green Ventures (GGV) to create a 40-unit rental apartment complex with ground-floor retail space on an acre of land on Flanders Road, near the Riverside traffic circle. The apartments would be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units priced for low- and middle-income tenants.

The town would use money from its Community Housing Fund — which generates its revenue from a half-percent sales tax on most real estate transactions in the town — to purchase the land for the project. The property currently contains unsafe structures, and demolishing them is a priority, town officials said.

Janice Scherer, Southampton Town’s planning administrator, said during the hearing that the project would “set the scene for the look and feel” of Riverside’s redevelopment. She said the town’s acquisition of the property would give officials more control over the project’s appearance.

“This is really going on a long time,” Scherer said of revitalization plans for the area, “and we want to get to the point where we have revitalization, people living there [and] a vibrant area.”

GGV, a Jericho-based development firm, has constructed housing projects across the East End, including in Riverhead and Southampton towns. The firm specializes at tapping into the state-managed tax credit system for affordable housing. 

Rents for the apartments would be capped at prices deemed affordable for those earning between 60% and 100% of the Nassau-Suffolk area median income, and a tenant would be paying about 30% of their income in rent and utilities. The 2025 HUD Area Median Income is $164,900 for a four-person household, $148,400 for a three-person household, $131,900 for a two-person household, and $115,450 for a one-person household.

Joy Cianci, a member of the Community Housing Fund Advisory Board, said the proposal aligns with the town’s plans for using the fund. The committee voted unanimously to recommend funding the project, which she noted is close to a bus stop and within walking distance of the Long Island Rail Road station in Riverhead.

Town officials said the project’s design will require resident parking, which would connect to new roads being planned for the area south of the property. While officials have an idea of the project’s general layout, no site plan application has yet been filed.

“We’re here today to let all of you know that we will do what we’ve always done, which is to work with the Town Board, work with [the] planning [department], to find a project that is successful,” said David Gallo, president of GGV.  

Gallo said he wants the project to serve as the “catalyst” for further investment and the revitalization of Riverside.

Southampton Town adopted a plan to revitalize Riverside 10 years ago, and then adopted a zoning overlay district that allows increased density on Flanders Road south of the traffic circle. The plan envisioned a mixed-use, walkable community there, but progress stalled due to the lack of a sewage treatment plant to serve the area.

The property would not be developed until the Riverside sewage treatment plant is completed. Scherer said the town expects to secure funding for the plant in September and to begin construction soon afterward. (Southampton is currently being sued by Riverhead Town over the plant because its design does not allow the county center and criminal court building — currently connected to Riverhead’s wastewater treatment plant — to hook up to it.) 

Riverhead Town officials did not comment during the hearing. Supervisor Tim Hubbard previously declined RiverheadLOCAL’s request for comment on the Riverside project, citing the ongoing litigation.

Chris Sheldon of Northampton criticized the decision to locate affordable housing in Riverside, arguing that the South Fork’s affordable housing stock is already concentrated there.

“We all know affordable housing is needed east of the canal to lessen the load of endless trade parade traffic,” Sheldon said. 

He said the project would “throw a monkey wrench into the decades of struggle to collectively help raise Riverside. Placing the wrong fix in the wrong location is wrong for Riverside.”

Town officials denied concentrating affordable housing projects west of the Shinnecock Canal, saying most of the town’s affordable housing funds have been committed to projects east of the canal.

Council Member Cyndi McNamara responded to Sheldon’s comments. “This is not affordable housing that’s going to be paid for by the government. This is for working class people that want to come into Riverside and use shops and have some income with which to revitalize Riverside,“ she said. “This is not bringing the area down; this is building the area up.”

Town officials said they wanted to acquire the property as soon as possible, with the first priority being demolition of the unsafe buildings.

GGV has partnered with the East End towns to build large affordable housing developments in the region. In Riverhead, the company built Riverview Lofts, currently the largest downtown apartment complex. The company also has four projects in the hopper throughout Riverhead Town, three of which are proposals for mixed-use apartment buildings near Riverhead’s Long Island Rail Road station.