About 120 first-time homebuyers apply for 5 affordable condos in Boathouse Lofts in Greenport

About 120 first-time homebuyers in Greenport are vying for five affordable condominium units in a new waterfront building.

The applications were received by Four Forty Five Realty LLC, the owners of Boathouse Lofts, a 17-unit condominium complex on Sterling Avenue, after a month of accepting inquiries, according to managing partner Kristopher Amplo.

The units, which range between 600 and 650 square feet, are $175,000 apiece and must be used as a primary residence. 

Potential buyers must demonstrate that they have either lived or worked in the village or Greenport school district boundaries for at least the last two years and fall within income restrictions capped at $139,480.

Amplo said applications closed July 10 and he is working closely with the village’s Housing Authority, which oversees its Section 8 program, to ensure candidates meet the guidelines. Officials said the Boathouse Lofts property is not accepting Section 8 vouchers.  

The names of qualified applicants will be entered into a computer-randomized program to select five winners, Amplo said. Several more may be wait-listed because the winners will still need to qualify for a mortgage. “It’s going to be a completely random selection,” he said. “There’s no other way to do it to keep it fair.”

No date has been set for the drawing, though Amplo is hopeful it will take place this month.

The inclusion of the residency-restricted units was mandated under a 2007 legal settlement after the Sterling Basin Neighborhood Association filed a lawsuit challenging a previous owner’s development plan that included a large marina. That plan did not materialize.

After Four Forty Five Realty purchased Boathouse Lofts for $15.5 million in 2021,12 market rate units were listed for sale last year. At least five remain on the market priced between $995,000 to $1.6 million.

Mayor Kevin Stuessi said he would have rather seen the five affordable condos listed for sale last year alongside the market rate units, but is glad it has progressed. He said the demand for the units is “not surprising at all,” given the need for affordable housing in the region.

Stuessi said the village is working closely with Southold Town on addressing the housing crisis. “It’s a much harder thing to achieve in Greenport because we are only one square mile and we have very little available space,” he said. Data from the 2020 census shows the village of 2,583 has a median income of $66,655, compared with $92,229 for all of Southold Town.

Susan Arnot Heaney, co-chair of the civic group, said they were adamant that any development on the site include affordable housing. “We were [willing to] fall on our swords on that,” she said.

Heaney and other neighbors also advocated for the units to be reserved for village residents. The village board set residency requirements and other parameters as part of a November 2021 agreement after concerns were raised over the potential for reselling the units at market rate with no restrictions.

Under the agreement, the units can be resold at market rate, though residency restrictions will continue as deeded covenants. Sales within two years are subject to a fee imposed on the seller totaling 25% of the difference between the purchase price and sale price. Funds collected would be split between the developer and housing authority. 

Though some argued the units should be kept price-controlled in perpetuity, Heaney sees it as a way for young people to build equity and is satisfied with the outcome. “It’s only five units, but it’s five people who maybe will have happier and healthier housing and a nice launch to their future.”