Developer seeks $80M in Nassau bonds for Freeport apartments

 A Lawrence-based developer is seeking nearly $80 million in bond financing to build an apartment complex in Freeport that will incorporate parts of a vacant and flood-damaged public housing project, officials said.

BOSFA Properties plans to construct 200 apartments — about half of them for veterans and senior citizens — at Buffalo and Albany avenues. The property had been home to the former Moxey Rigby low-income housing project for more than 50 years before Superstorm Sandy made it uninhabitable in 2012 and temporarily displaced about 400 people.  

Five years ago, the Freeport Housing Authority built a new complex nearby, also named for Rigby, who in 1959 became the first African American to be elected a judge in Nassau County. The authority helped residents of the first Rigby project to move to its successor, Newsday has reported.  

 In 2023, the damaged property was then sold to BOSFA, which stands for Builders of Sustainable Family Apartments, for $17.5 million, records show.

BOSFA plans to construct 10 studio apartments, 100 one-bedroom units, 70 two-bedroom units and 20 three-bedroom units using the walls of one of the existing buildings and constructing an addition, said Andrew D. Komaromi, the developer’s attorney, adding all will be rental units.

“This is a partially affordable housing project,” he said in December, adding at least 20% of the apartments will be set aside for people with incomes of not more than 50% of Nassau County’s median income of $59,650 per year, based on data from the mortgage provider Fannie Mae.

Komaromi told the county’s Local Economic Assistance Corp., which issues tax-exempt and taxable bonds, that BOSFA cannot move forward with the project, called The Gardens at Buffalo, without the bonds. The project’s total price tag is about $80 million, according to the bond application.

The assistance corporation’s board of directors voted unanimously in December to begin negotiations with BOSFA. Should the developer receive the requested bonds, it has projected yearly savings of up to $1.5 million in interest and up to $100,000 in corporate income tax, the application states.

Those savings would be on top of 25 years of property-tax breaks granted by the Hempstead Town Industrial Development Agency's board of directors in September 2023. A sales tax exemption of up to $1 million on the purchase of construction materials, equipment and furnishing, plus a reduction in the mortgage-recording tax, were also granted, according to the board's adopting resolution.  

“The village and the town are in dire need of quality rental housing, especially for seniors, and those in need of affordable rentals,” IDA CEO Frederick Parola said at the time. “These housing shortages are forcing residents to move away from Long Island.”

BOSFA’s Daniel Goldstein is projecting The Gardens at Buffalo will be ready for renters by July 2026, based on the bond application.

Goldstein and his son, Aron, started BOSFA about five years ago. The company has purchased more than 50 properties in Central Islip, Freeport, Hempstead Village, Inwood, Lawrence, Westbury, Queens and Florida.

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.