Affordable-housing complex opens in New Cassel

An affordable-housing complex in New Cassel opened officially Tuesday, part of a bid to redevelop the commercial and residential corridors.

The three-story Cathedral Place Apartments, at 1020 Prospect Ave., has 36 units, with 18 one-bedroom, 14 two-bedroom, and 4 three-bedroom spaces. Monthly rents range from $962 to $1,327 for the three-bedroom. Residents were awarded slots during a lottery in August.

Regional leaders hailed the project, developed by Conifer Realty LLC and the Community Development Corporation of Long Island, a Centereach nonprofit.

"This project could be a model for every community in Nassau and Suffolk County," said Kevin Law, president and CEO of the Long Island Association, before a ribbon-cutting outside the complex. He described a "need to reinvest and to invest in communities that have been historically neglected over the years," because that "creates great possible opportunity for us in terms of housing."

The development received $2.59 million from the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, part of a statewide economic development initiative, officials said.

The complex, where construction broke ground a year ago, benefits from public and private partnerships. The state allocated $7.9 million in federal low-income housing taxing credits; and $1.37 million in loan funds, officials said. Nassau County contributed $720,000 in federal HOME funds, and the Town of North Hempstead's Community Development Agency, which owned the property, sold it for about $1 million under the market value, officials said. Other partners included banks, such as Capital One.

Viviana Russell, a North Hempstead councilwoman from Westbury, hailed the complex as the result of a 10-year visioning process. Earlier this month, the hamlet's first full-service supermarket, long-desired for a community where 17.5 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, was opened.

"We would have never thought we would be where we are today with the opening of a facility of this caliber, as well as the other development that has gone on in this community," she said.

One of the new tenants, Nicole Bradley, said she almost moved back to her hometown of upstate Syracuse from her residence on Prospect Avenue in Westbury.

"It's an amazing feeling," said Bradley, who will move in with her 6-year-old son.