Belmont at Eastview may be the safest apartment complex on Long Island.
Developers of the Central Islip complex have been offering 10 percent monthly rent discounts for first responders, Newsday reported. Firefighters, police officers, EMTs and veterans are among those who have been benefiting from the unique deal.
They’ve certainly been taking advantage. Of the 175 apartments leased since the summer, roughly 60 percent have already been leased by first responders, according to an executive of one of the development partners, Steel Equities. The other primary developer is The Marcus Organization.
“I think it’s a good incentive to start,” Vinny Plotino, chief of the Central Islip Fire Department, told Newsday. Plotino is sending recruitment flyers to the development as he tries to fill his department’s vacancies. “I think all the places should offer some assistance to the volunteer fire or ambulance agencies.”
Martin Cantor, director of the Long Island Center for Socio-Economic Policy, said the incentive could help recruiting first responders, but won’t make a dent in Long Island’s affordable housing crisis.
The 726-unit, $300 million complex at 300 Carleton Avenue replaced the Central Islip Psychiatric Center, a former 87-acre state facility that closed nearly three decades ago. The property includes 10 percent of rental units designated for those earning 80 percent or below the area median income.
The project has greatly increased in scope. The developers originally planned for 364 apartments. After a zoning change was approved at the end of last year, however, another 362 units can be added, including 81 for-sale units for those 55 and older.
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The development includes 140,000 square feet of retail, service and medical office facilities, which will contain the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine Family Health Care Center. There will also be an 18,000-square-foot clubhouse and an exhibit on the site’s history.
The developers received tax breaks for the project’s first phase in 2021 and completed the initial project last year. The second phase of the project is anticipated to begin in the fall or early next winter and wrap in early 2026.
— Holden Walter-Warner