Home sales up nearly 10% as Nassau and Suffolk inventory swells, Airbnb hosts could make $255K during PGA event & more Long Island real estate news

Long Island home sales up nearly 10 percent as inventory swells
In Nassau and Suffolk counties, pending home sales increased 9.6 percent in April when compared to the same time in 2018, according to Long Island Business News, which cited data from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. Suffolk had 1,868 pending home sales in April, up 12.9 percent from the 1,655 that traded in April 2018. Similarly, Nassau’s 1,336 home sales last month was a 5.3 percent spike from the 1,269 homes contracted for sale in April last year. But despite the numbers of sales growing, inventory is also increasing. Nassau and Suffolk counties had 12,572 homes listed for sale as of Wednesday. That number is 10 percent more than the 11,427 listed on the market during the same time period in 2018. LIBN noted that Nassau saw its inventory rise faster, at a 16.7 percent bounce from 2018, than Suffolk, where inventory hopped up by only 4.8 percent year-over-year. [LIBN]

Airbnb hosts could make up to $255K from Bethpage Black event
Home-sharing giant Airbnb, no stranger to touting the economic potential of its hosts on Long Island, noted last week that those in Nassau County could stand to take in about $245,000 during the PGA Championship that will run through May 19 at the Bethpage Black golf course in Farmingdale, Newsday reported. Airbnb’s estimate is more than double the $117,000 that hosts pulled in during the same period last year. As of last week, about 1,100 people have booked places to stay in Nassau via Airbnb, a 41 percent increase from the 780 who did so at the same time last year, when Bethpage Black was not hosting such a high-profile tournament. (Newsday recently reported that Tiger Woods, riding high from his recent comeback, had docked his yacht in Oyster Bay ahead of the PGA Championship starting on May 16.) Large events like the PGA and U.S. Open Championship at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton generate a significant number of Airbnb bookings since desirable hotel rooms are scant. In 2018, Long Islanders hosted 140,000 Airbnb guests, earning about $47 million. Suffolk County itself had 114,200 guests, earning its hosts $42.1 million, while Nassau had 25,000 guests who generated $5.3 million in income. The Real Deal reported last month on Airbnb’s unique partnership with Uniondale-based RXR Realty to provide apartment-style hospitality space in commercial buildings. [Newsday]

Cedarhurst-based Postal Realty Trust seeks to raise $100M in IPO
Postal Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust that owns and operates properties used by the U.S. Postal Service, filed papers earlier this month seeking to raise $100 million through an initial public offering, Newsday reported. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Cedarhurst-based REIT said it plans to sell 5 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth is advising Postal Realty on its stock listing, which is expected to generate roughly $3.22 million in legal fees and expenses, according to securities filings. Newsday noted that Postal Realty posted $7.7 million in revenue during the past 12 months, with a profit of $1.1 million. The bulk of the REIT’s properties are located in Arkansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin, according to the outlet. Postal Realty was formed in 2018. [Newsday]

Former Superfund site in West Islip sold to developer for $2.45M
Roger Delisle and his development team, Smithtown-based Island Associates, have paid $2.45 million for a 4.1-acre former Superfund site in West Islip they hope to transform into a retail center, Long Island Business News reported. When complete, the $12 million project will hold a Quick Check market and gas station, a free-standing restaurant and a 9,000-square-foot retail center at 425 Union Boulevard. A factory was built on the site in 1938. But manufacturing on the property so badly contaminated the soil below that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated it a Superfund site. Delisle bought the land from the Dzus Fastener Company and the developer is already working with New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation to test and clean the property. Dzus and its parent company, DFCI Solutions, are in charge of the actual remediation. Thousands of tons of tainted soil was dug out of the site in the 1990s, leading the DEC to rule that the dangerous contamination there had stabilized. But Superstorm Sandy stirred up polluted soil again, forcing more cleanup at the site. Delisle represented the buyers in the recent sale, while LIBN noted that Harvey Kolin of Corporate Commercial Realty took the lead for Dzus. [LIBN]

North Babylon apartment plan altered to secure IDA funds
Robert Curcio Jr. and other developers have changed their plans for a 40-unit apartment building next to a North Babylon elementary school in an effort to secure a $2.2 million tax break from the Babylon Industrial Development Agency, Newsday reported. Those who live in the town have opposed the plan to develop the 2.2-acre lot at 766-768 Deer Park Avenue, where Curcio is seeking to spend $16 million to build the Parkway Village Estates. The Town of Babylon Planning Board has been flooded with letters and hundreds of signatories on petitions urging it to reject the development. The lot, which is zoned for business use, requires a switch for multifamily residential development. Neighbors, however, have been concerned that the new apartment building would increase traffic in the school area and endanger students. In order to address some concerns, developers repositioned the proposed apartments and parking spaces, while also adding more space along the property line and extra parking spots to limit street parking. The developers also shrunk the size of a standalone recreation building from its original 3,000-square-foot design to a 1,133-square-foot unit. Newsday reported those changes and others were made after Curcio and his colleagues met with civic leaders and concerned neighbors, said a lawyer for the developers, Dan Baker of Long Island’s Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman. Curcio has applied for a 44 percent tax break from the Babylon IDA that if approved would save him $2.2 million over 20 years. [Newsday]

Potential traffic from New Hyde Park revitalization irks residents
New Hyde Park residents believe that a proposed four-story mixed-use building would add too much traffic and be out of character for the area if it is built, according to Newsday. Currently, the property at 300 South 12th Street has a vacant one-story commercial building. Ernesto Tersigni, owner of 300 South 12th LLC, wants to erect a 18,567-square-feet building on the site, which would include 4,915 square feet of retail along with 11 ground-floor apartments topped by 20 other units above them. But in order to do so, Tersigni needs a special-use permit. New Hyde Park’s board of trustees will hold two more meetings before coming to a decision on the proposal. Tersigni’s lawyer, Andrea Tsoukalas Curto of Forchelli Deegan Terrana, argued that the project will help the town’s downtown revitalization effort. Local officials hope to combine other new apartment complexes near New Hyde Park’s Long Island Rail Road station to create a pedestrian-friendly area called Station Plaza. The aim is to attract millennials who work in New York City, but don’t want to live in Manhattan or its outer boroughs. In 2018, New Hyde Park rezoned the area around its LIRR station to permit developers to pitch buildings that exceed the town’s two-and-a-half story limit. Newsday reported that Tersigni’s building would be the first to exceed that limit. [Newsday]