Long Island Cheat Sheet: Nassau property tax assessment chief wins 5 reductions in her own home’s value … & more

Nassau property tax assessment chief wins 5 reductions in her own home’s value
Robin Laveman, chairwoman for Nassau County’s Assessment Review Commission, has won five challenges to the assessed value of her Oyster Bay Cove home, bringing it down so she can pay lower property taxes, Newsday reported. The assessments, which her commission undertakes, are used to generate next year’s tax bills. She’s won such challenges each year for the last five years — cutting her assessment by about 24 percent — and she has another pending. The county officially values her Oyster Bay Cove property, which includes an undeveloped lot next to her home, at $1,103,200. Other sources like Zillow and Realtor.com however, put its value above $2 million. If the $2 million assessment is accurate, her previous $37,000 tax bill should be double. County Executive Laura Curran has previously vowed to introduce changes to improve the local property tax assessment system. [Newsday]

Southampton buys Lobster Inn site for $8.45M
Two years after the site of Lobster Inn hit the market for $11.5 million, the town of Southampton laid down $8.45 million for the restaurant and marina. The town made the purchase through the Community Preservation Fund and Inlet Road Operations Corp, an affiliate of the Manna Ocean Foundation, Curbed reported. Town officials hope to preserve half the property as a public space and working marina, while allowing Inlet Road Operations Corp. to run an aquaculture farm and restaurant on the other half. David Donohue and Joe Peraino of Douglas Elliman handled the listing. [Curbed]

Babylon to subsidize costs of updating Copiague businesses
The town of Babylon has set up a grant program that will cover the costs Copiague business owners incur while upgrading their storefronts to standards set by the town last year. Developers helped fund the program in exchange for zoning exemptions for their other projects around town. The program, the Downtown Copiague Facade Improvement Program, is the latest stage in a larger effort to revitalize the town’s modest commercial corridor and make it more pedestrian friendly. The money will be put toward updates of facades according to standards developed by firm In.Site:Architecture. Businesses have to apply, and if selected will get reimbursements for 75 percent of the costs of the improvements, up to $25,000. [Newsday]

Kings Point home by ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ architect lists for $2.8M
A unique home that was designed by Myron Goldfinger has hit the market for $2.8 million. The architect had also designed an Old Brookville home that was featured in 2013’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” as the residence of lead character Jordan Belfort. The spacious Kings Point home has five bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, a sauna, a two-story living room and glass walls. Indravadan and Saroj Shah of Soheila Sharf Realty are handling the listing. [Newsday]

Assisted-living home proposed for Port Jefferson Station
Baltimore-based Brightview Senior Living has proposed building a three-story assisted-living facility in Port Jefferson Station, Long Island Business News reported. The 8.7-acre area where they want to erect the home is mostly residential and Brightview would need to secure a zoning change from the Town of Brookhaven, which the Suffolk County Planning Commission already recommended. If they get it, they will build a 182,079-square-foot building with 200 beds and 170 parking spaces. The space would be Brightview’s second on Long Island. The company had tried to build another facility in South Setauket, but pulled its application after local pushback. [LIBN]