J.Lo and Marc Anthony’s Brookville home to be razed and replaced
The celebrity marriage between Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony officially ended in 2014, and the home the couple once shared in Brookville, roughly 30 miles from New York City and one of the most expensive small towns in the country, went on the market the following year. Built in 1941, the 10,500-square-foot home on a gated 8.5-acre compound listed for $12 million in 2015. It then took a substantial price cut. Pailla Malla Reddy, who bought the home for $4.5 million in 2017, recently told Newsday that renovating the Georgian-style brick mansion was simply too expensive. He now plans to tear down the 10-bedroom home and replace it with a new one that has up to 17,000 square feet for his wife and two children. Brookville officials approved demolition on Nov. 26 and Reddy hopes to have construction going on the property as soon as Dec. 14. [Newsday]
RXR and BSE outline Nassau Hub plans, land anchor tenant
On Dec. 1, the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders played a home game at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the first time since April 2015. While the capacity crowd of 13,917 cheered on the Islanders, who are playing again at their old home on Hempstead Turnpike after a few years at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, developers of the $1.5 billion Nassau Hub are moving forward with their plans for the 60-acre, mixed-use project around the renovated Nassau Coliseum. Newsday reported last week that Uniondale-based RXR Realty and Brooklyn-based BSE Global hope to build 600,000 square feet of office and biotechnology research space, 500 units of housing, two hotels and 200,000 square feet of entertainment and shops that combine regular retail with activities like yoga and cooking classes. The “new suburbia” was promised by RXR and BSE during an hours-long meeting with the Nassau Legislature on Nov. 27, according to Newsday, which noted that Northwell Health had signed on as an anchor tenant for the project. The developers want to get subsidies from the county to offset taxes in the construction of residential units. The legislature could vote this month on an amended lease that would allow developers to push forward on project planning. [Newsday]
Pugatch Realty merges with Laffey to extend Long Island reach
Woodmere-based Pugatch Realty has merged with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Laffey International Realty, according to a press release. The combination gives Laffey, which handles luxury real estate on the North Shore, access to the South Shore and Five Towns marketplaces. Barry and Susan Pugatch of their eponymous company have joined a Laffey executive team that includes Emmett Laffey, Gregory Berkowitz and John Schoonmaker. The Pugatchs will bring to the company 30 agents and a devoted group of clients. “The [Pugatch] brokerage is highly respected in the South Shore marketplace and is known for great service and extensive market expertise,” said Laffey, his company’s president and CEO. “Strategically, our union extends Laffey International Realty’s reach on Long Island.” As for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, which has grown quickly in New York over the last two years, Warren Buffett’s residential brokerage teamed up last month with a London-based firm to expand its presence in Dubai, Milan and Vienna. [Business Wire]
Developers seek $28.6M in tax breaks for Lindenhurst complex
Tritec Real Estate of East Setauket wants the Babylon Town Industrial Development Agency to grant a $28.6 million tax abatement for their 260-unit multifamily rental complex in Lindenhurst, according to Newsday. The IDA proposed a 30-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, for the project. Under that plan, the school district, Babylon and Suffolk County would receive payments totaling $300,479 during the 2019-20 tax year. The village would get its first $40,000 payment in 2020. Neighbors who hope to spur further development in the area believe the apartments could do just that, although the school district has voiced its objections to the PILOT plan. [Newsday]
Utah solar firm buys 109 acres in Calverton for $14M
Salt Lake City-based solar energy company sPower has closed on its deal to buy 109 acres in Calverton for $14 million, Long Island Business News reported. The former sod farm is the first phase of sPower’s 36-megawatt installation on the site. The company is in the middle of assembling 290 acres in the area to create the largest solar installation in New York. The project, which hopes to produce electricity for 8,500 homes, began in 2012 when the Long Island Power Authority sent out an request for proposals to make solar energy more accessible. Marie Zere, president and CEO of Ronkonkoma-based Zere Real Estate Services, represented both the buyer and seller in the sale. [LIBN]
Southampton mulls allowing more accessory apartments to ease housing shortage
Nearly 2,000 properties in Southampton Town could become eligible for accessory apartments under a plan designed to alleviate the South Fork’s housing crunch, according to Newsday. The town code requires that property owners have a three-quarter-acre lot to get a permit for an accessory rental. Local officials are weighing changing rules to allow permits for owners on half-acre lots in less densely populated hamlets such as Bridgehampton, Eastport, Flanders, North Sea, Northampton, Noyack, Tuckahoe, Water Mill and Westhampton. The plan dictates that those rents be kept at affordable levels to serve Southampton’s workforce. Newsday noted the number of eligible properties still wouldn’t meet the 4,729-unit shortage outlined in a 2008 housing study, a number that has likely risen over the last decade. [Newsday]