Long Island Cheat Sheet: Median home prices rise in Suffolk and Nassau, office leasing market soars during Q1… & more

<em>Clockwise from top left: Engel Burman opens a 180-bed assisted living facility in Jericho, median home prices have risen 5.9 percent in Suffolk County and 3.4 percent in Nassau County, office leases spike 112 percent during the first quarter and the former home of sports radio host Mike Francesa hits the market seeking nearly $1.8M.</em>
Clockwise from top left: Engel Burman opens a 180-bed assisted living facility in Jericho, median home prices have risen 5.9 percent in Suffolk County and 3.4 percent in Nassau County, office leases spike 112 percent during the first quarter and the former home of sports radio host Mike Francesa hits the market seeking nearly $1.8M.

Home prices jump, but sales and inventory slow, says report
Long Island home prices rose for yet another month, while sales themselves slowed and inventory increased, Newsday reported. Homes in Suffolk County sold with a median price of $372,875 in March, a 5.9 percent rise from the same month a year earlier, according to data published by the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. Similarly, Nassau County’s median home sale price rose 3.4 percent last month, to $517,000. Home sales, however, fell 5.8 percent in Suffolk when compared to March 2018. Nassau home sales fell 8.8 percent year-over-year. Those dips could soon be offset by a boost in the number of contract signings last month, which jumped 10 percent in Suffolk and 1.4 percent in Nassau, compared to March 2018. All of these factors have combined to create a buyer’s market. “It’s a very competitive environment out there for buyers,” Massapequa-based agent Russ Bonanno told Newsday. “There’s a lot of very serious and very qualified buyers out there.” Nonetheless, Bonanno stressed to the outlet that the market is less competitive for more expensive homes. “As you go up in price, the buyer pool does shrink a bit,” he added. [Newsday]

Long Island office leases soar 112 percent in Q1
Leasing activity in Long Island’s office market surged during the first three months of 2019, driving down availability during the first quarter of as absorption turned positive for the first time since the second quarter of 2018, according to data published by CBRE Group. Tenants leased 605,000 square feet across the island during the first quarter, more than doubling the activity of the same period in 2018. This uptick also outpaced the five-year quarterly average. Pushing this trend were two transactions by Newsday and AdvantageCare Physicians. The Newsday Media Group signed a 15-year lease in March on a 130,000-square-foot complex in Melville where it plans to move its headquarters. Long Island also posted 62,000 square feet of positive net absorption during the first quarter of this year, erasing the final quarter of 2018’s negative 136,000 square feet. Availability decreased by 70 basis points. All of this was driven by those same leases and a lack of big blocks coming to market, as noted by The Real Deal in a February market report. Despite such changes, the overall asking rent for office space on Long Island remained basically the same, hovering at $27.35 per square foot. CBRE noted that the latter increased a single cent from the fourth quarter of 2018. [CBRE]

Engel Burman opens 180-bed assisted living facility in Jericho
The president and partners of Garden City-based developer Engel Burman Group announced on April 12 the official opening of The Bristal at Jericho, a 180-unit assisted living complex at 310 Jericho Turnpike. The 200,000-square-foot building, which was reportedly built with tax breaks from Nassau County’s Industrial Development Agency, is spread over nine acres. The three-story building has 144 assisted living units and another 36 memory care apartments for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. As of its opening, 50 people were already living in the facility, which has studio, one- and two-bedroom units starting at $6,500 per month, according to Long Island Business News. Included in the rent are services such as bathing, dressing and medication management. Other amenities include an outdoor pool, eatery, fitness center, cinema, library, game room and performance space. The facility is the 17th in Engel Burman’s assisted living portfolio, which The Real Deal touched on in a February report about a rise in senior living centers across the Tri-State area. The Bristal is also part of the same campus as the Bristal Grand, a luxury community for seniors that is slated to open next month. LIBN noted that Engel Burman has another six Bristal-branded communities in the works, one of which is in the Suffolk County hamlet of Mount Sinai. [LIBN] 

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WFAN host Mike Francesa’s ex-Lattingtown home seeks $1.8M
The onetime home of Mike Francesa, the high-profile New York sports radio host of WFAN’s “Mike and the Mad Dog” sports radio show, has hit the market with a price tag of $1.795 million, Newsday reported. Built in 1998, the Colonial-style home in Lattingtown, a village within Oyster Bay, has seven bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms, a sunroom and a master suite with its own fireplaces. The four acres that it sits on include a pool, tennis court and a large outdoor entertaining space. The radio host bought the home at 11 The Courtyard shortly after it was built in 1999, but sold it last year, according to Newsday, which has kept close tabs in recent years on Francesa’s battles in the sports media realm. The Long Island native, who critical columnists have given the nickname the “Sports Pope” for his often bold opinions, has also reportedly owned property on the East End. Maureen Poyle of Douglas Elliman has the Lattingtown listing. [Newsday]

Waterfront townhomes to replace Miller Place beach club
Rocky Point-based developer Landmark Properties bought The Miller Beach Surf Club at 23 Harbor Beach Road in Miller Place for $1.25 million and plans to build four waterfront townhouses there, Long Island Business News reported. The Surf Club was founded in the 1950s as a private club and eventually became a catering venue for weddings and other events in 2006. The business, however, shuttered in 2016. It then hit the market the following year seeking nearly $1.4 million. The Suffolk County property spans five acres. Construction of the townhomes, which will have views of the Long Island Sound, is expected to being later this year. Kyle Markott of Markott Realty Group represented both the buyer and seller, Miller Bch Surf Cl Inc. Markott will also be the listing agent once the homes are built. [LIBN]