Long Island’s median home price jumps 4.5 percent in December
The median home price for Long Island in landed at $460,000 in December, a 4.5 percent increase over the same month in 2017, according to data released by the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. Suffolk County reported a median price of $380,000 in 2018, which is a 5.3 percent increase over the median price from a year before. Nassau County closed out 2018 with a $515,000 median home price, which is about a 4 percent increase over the $495,000 from 2017. The Multiple Listing Service numbers also include Queens, which had a median home price of $615,000 in December, representing an 11.8 percent increase from 2017. Newsday reported that it remains to be seen what impact Amazon’s new second headquarters in Long Island City could have for Long Island’s housing market. [Multiple Listing Service LI]
Farmingdale weighs moratorium on downtown building
Officials in Farmingdale are considering adopting a six-month moratorium on downtown development, Newsday reported. The ban would halt site plan approvals and the issuance of permits on projects in a downtown mixed-use zone that also requires variances or waivers on height, density, parking and other zoning regulations. The moratorium wouldn’t apply to existing businesses that want to undertake renovations. Some local residents have reportedly complained about rapid growth in the downtown area, particularly near the Long Island Rail Road station, which has contributed to increased litter and more parking and traffic congestion problems. The village board plans to host a public hearing on the proposal on Feb. 4. The Farmingdale board also plans to study recent development under the village master plan from 2011. That plan was meant to foster transit-oriented development and has created one of the busier downtown areas on Long Island, which other municipalities are now seeking to emulate. [Newsday]
Tax breaks sought to convert Plainview hotel into senior housing
Capitol Seniors Housing is in contract to buy a 170-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Plainview for $20.25 million and invest another $11.7 million into the property to transform the building into a senior housing complex, Newsday reported. In order to do so, the developer wants to get some help from Nassau County’s Industrial Development Agency [IDA].Washington, D.C.-based Capital Seniors Housing has requested millions of dollars in tax breaks over 20 years, Newsday reported. The IDA’s board of directors have agreed to negotiate with the developer. Capitol Seniors Housing already runs 23 senior living developments in nine states and has another 10 in the works. The Plainview Residence Inn, which closed late last year, is owned by developer Donald Monti, chairman of Renaissance Downtowns. [Newsday]
Plans scrapped for Long Island Music Hall of Fame museum
Plans to open the first museum for the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in Wyandanch have fallen by the wayside, according to Newsday. The nonprofit organization, which is based in Melville, had planned to build the museum as part of the town’s $500 million revitalization effort dubbed Wyandanch Rising. That public-private project has been ongoing since 2002. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone spearheaded the redevelopment effort. Neither he nor officials with the LIMHOF returned Newsday’s inquiries about the plan’s sudden demise. As proposed, the museum was to have 10,000 square feet in a 100,000-square-foot commercial building in Wyandanch, a hamlet in the town of Babylon. Suffolk County gave $1.2 million to Babylon for the museum’s interior. That money will now be used for a YMCA-run event space in the building. [Newsday]
Woodbury nursing home gets $78.5M in Greystone financing
The real estate financing firm Greystone & Company gave $78.5 million in U.S. Housing and Urban Development-insured financing to the SentosaCare Network for the Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation in Woodbury, the financier announced. The refinancing carries a low, fixed interest rate and a 30-year term with amortization. The deal, which the Commercial Observer noted replaces a highly leveraged bridge loan from an undisclosed bank that Greystone helped broker in 2016, was spearheaded by Fred Levine, a managing director in Greystone’s Monsey office. The 588-bed skilled nursing facility offers services including clinical care, cardiac care, memory care and other various therapies. Renovations on the facility’s six buildings was finished in 2010. [Greystone]