Rockville Manor in Rockville Centre to receive 32 years of tax breaks from Nassau County

Nassau County on Thursday awarded more than 30 years of tax breaks to a partnership that plans to renovate and expand a public housing project in Rockville Centre.

Rockville Manor, which provides 50 apartments to seniors and the disabled exclusively, would have six additional units, a second elevator and revamped electrical systems under a $32 million plan put forward by a private developer and the village’s housing authority.

The plan also calls for an ownership change where private investors will hold a substantial stake, but the authority will remain involved.

The plan received the backing of the county’s Industrial Development Agency in the form of a sales-tax exemption of up to $938,640 and up to $82,100 off the mortgage-recording tax.

The IDA also awarded property-tax savings stretching over more than three decades.

Under the deal, taxes would only be paid on the land for two years followed in the third year by a bill that equals 10% of the rental income minus utility costs. Subsequently, the bill would rise 3% in each of the next 29 years.

Rockville Manor, at 579 Merrick Rd., currently only pays property taxes to Rockville Centre because it’s 100% owned by the village’s housing authority, said Daniel P. Deegan, the partnership’s real estate attorney. The bill was $17,926 last year, according to the application for IDA assistance.

“This property has been operated by the housing authority for many years and there’s a long waiting list,” he said at the IDA meeting on Thursday. “But the facility is tired; it needs capital investment, recapitalization and renovation to bring it back to where it should be.”

With that in mind, the authority formed a partnership with D&F Development Group LLC in Levittown, which specializes in housing projects where 100% of the units are affordable.

Without funding from D&F, Deegan said, the authority couldn’t afford to renovate Rockville Manor, which is 37,888 square feet, plus construct a 7,448-square-foot addition.

In return for the tax breaks, the authority and D&F promised that all the apartments would remain available only to individuals with an annual household income that doesn’t exceed  $59,650, or 50% of the area median income in Nassau, based on data from home mortgage provider Fannie Mae.

“The plan would not evict any tenants — and we would work with them to renovate their apartments” over a two-year period, Deegan said.

The authority has wanted to update Rockville Manor since at least 2018, based on the IDA application.

William Rockensies, chairman of the IDA board, said, “This is an important project for the community and without our help they wouldn’t be able to do it."

He continued, "The building is in desperate need of renovation, and it provides needed housing for seniors and the disabled. This is something that we should do.”

Besides the IDA tax breaks, Rockville Manor will use $1.7 million in Nassau County Home Funds and $7.5 million in federal and state low-income housing credits and subsidies for the planned improvements.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, in a March announcement about the Rockville Manor aid, said, “The only way to address New York’s housing crisis and bring down costs for families is to keep building and preserving homes.”

One other property owned by the housing authority currently receives tax breaks from the Nassau IDA, according to state records.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.