180-townhouse project proposed in Dix Hills

Some local resistance to luxury senior communityt

Vanderbilt Estates Dix Hills (BLD Architecture)

TRD Staff

Mar 6, 2023, 5:45 PM

Dix Hills could soon be home to 180 new, luxury townhomes for the 55-and-older set — if opposition doesn’t spring up to sabotage the project.

A development firm led by Lou Giaquinto proposed the senior housing community in the Suffolk County hamlet, Newsday reported. The townhomes would be in a gated community dubbed Vanderbilt Estates Dix Hills.

Its 35 buildings would stretch across 24 acres and the homes would be priced between $800,000 and $1.2 million. There would be a clubhouse and pool, along with a subterranean sewage treatment plant.

The project would be on Deer Park Avenue between the Long Island Expressway and Vanderbilt Parkway. The two businesses that were using the site, a flower shop and landscaper, have both closed.

The rub, however, is that the project requires a rezoning by the Town of Huntington. The portion of the site that does not include the shuttered businesses and Park Shore Day Camp is zoned for single-family housing on 1-acre lots. The developer wants to rezone to a garden apartment special district.

Giaquinto pitched the project as a boon to the community, replacing the closed shops and the pollution, traffic, trucks and noise they brought with a quiet, residential enclave. He also said the community needs more senior housing options.

Not everyone is on board. A Facebook post in a community group for moms revealed plans to meet Tuesday night about possible concerns. Among them are how the development would affect the character of the hamlet.

Giaquinto submitted the proposal in January, but no timeline for its review has been set. A spokesperson for the town told Newsday that it was too early to vote on a resolution to have a public hearing, which is necessary for zoning changes.

— Holden Walter-Warner