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REAL ESTATE
Affordable Subsidized Homes In A Proposed Clustered Development Would Sell For About $300,000 To First-Time, Eligible Buyers
The nonprofit Rockland Housing Action Committee is partnering with Regan Development, a regional affordable housing developer, to construct 17 duplex-style homes at 55 Schriever Lane in New City. The team appeared before Clarkstown’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) last week.
The 14-acre wooded parcel, has about three acres of wetlands, and located to the west of and behind a group of commercial properties on South Main Street in New City. The lot, zoned R-15 (single-family homes on 15,000 square foot parcels), is surrounded by residential neighborhoods of single-family homes to the north, south and west.
The development team plans to offer the individual units for sale to eligible first-time home buyers earning 80% of Rockland County’s Area Median Income (AMI) as set by HUD (Housing & Urban Development). AMI varies by family size, but based on 2024 numbers, a family of four can earn up to $124,400 to be eligible.
According to the developer, by incorporating $462,143 of subsidies per home, the purchase price can be reduced from $768,384 to $306,241 so a low-income buyer earning up to 80% of Rockland County median can qualify for a mortgage to purchase a home.
The development will be called Homesteads At Demarest.
The development plan is complicated by new New York State DEC regulations on wetlands, which are still being implemented. To mitigate the impact of wetlands on the site, the developers have proposed clustering the houses on a portion of the property outside the wetlands. Approvals for cluster developments require reviews by both DEC and the Town of Clarkstown. No Rockland County GML review is required based on the location of the property.
The plan was originally introduced to include 20 homes, but was reduced to facilitate clustering.
Clarkstown’s code provides cluster development as an alternative in residential zones “to enable and encourage flexibility of design and development of land in such a manner as to preserve the natural and scenic qualities of open lands in order to preserve the natural and scenic qualities of open lands.”
In the clustering plan, as presented to TAC, the entire almost three acres of wetlands on the site will remain undisturbed. Without clustering a portion of the wetlands, about 3,600 square feet, would have to be filled in.
The wetlands are associated with a tributary of the Demarest Kill which runs along the eastern edge of the site from north to south.
The clustering plan would also override the zoning codes requirement for lot size, set-backs, buffer, and side-yards that are traditionally part of the R-15 single-family zone.
To protect the environmentally sensitive area around the wetlands, the developer would likely give the Town of Clarkstown conservation easements. And, the buyers of the houses would be deed restricted from increasing the homes’ footprints or size.
Rockland County’s need for affordable housing is acute and ongoing. In 2022, the County of Rockland commissioned a Housing Needs Assessment from Pattern for Progress, a Hudson Valley think tank. The report found that there was a lack of housing in general, and that the available housing was insufficient to meet the needs of Rockland County residents.
Regan Development Company, a large regional affordable housing builder, along with its nonprofit partner Rockland Housing Action Coalition (RHAC), also plan to build 52 affordable units of 55-plus senior housing at 250 South Middletown Road in Nanuet.
Plans for the $24 million development call for razing the Chase Bank to build the housing project on 2.5 acres that are within the Nanuet Hamlet. RHAC is a 20 percent partner in the redevelopment deal. The nonprofit will manage rentals once that project is built.
The project will be available to seniors who are qualified as low-income renters at or below 80 percent of the AMI (Area Medium Income) in Clarkstown. Clarkstown residents will get a preference on the units, according to Larry Regan, a principal at Regan Development.
In March, Rockland County awarded Regan Development $5 million in a revolving loan fund for the project through its Housing Actions Loan Opportunity (HALO) program. Projected rents for the units in Regan’s Nanuet project are $2,330 monthly for one-bedroom apartments; $2,796 monthly for two bedrooms.
