North Hempstead opens housing lottery

Home buyers meeting income guidelines can apply for 15 residences in Westbury through a lottery launched by North Hempstead's Workforce Housing Program.

The town's Community Development Agency in the past decade purchased seven blighted properties for nearly $1.6 million to accommodate the housing. Several of the properties were condemned by the agency. One property had illegal rentals, said the agency's executive director, Dermot Kelly.

Eleven of the new residences are three-bedroom town houses developed by Cornerstone Properties, with an asking price of $133,616 each, town officials said. The other four are individual homes on 5,000-square-foot, detached lots.

The Community Development Agency and the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal have allocated about $500,000 each for buyer subsidies, Kelly said. Nassau County supported the project with $950,000 in HOME funds, officials said.

The properties were purchased for between $112,000 and $350,000, officials said.

Local officials said their mission is to increase options for affordable housing. Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in an email: "The housing lottery will provide an opportunity for people to own homes who otherwise might not have had the ability to do so."

Three new 1,960-square-foot, two-story single-family homes will range from $219,008 to $227,852; a newly renovated 1,500-square-foot single-family home will sell for $221,446, town officials said.

Applications must be received at the Long Island Housing Partnership's office by 5 p.m. on Nov. 7, or be postmarked by that date. The lottery is expected to take place later that month.

The home buyer must have income at or below 80 percent of the Nassau/Suffolk median income guideline, ranging from $58,900 for a household of one to $111,050 for a household of eight.