The Grove would support units for domestic abuse survivors

A Jericho-based developer is proposing to build 55 apartments of mixed-income, workforce housing on Montauk Highway in East Patchogue and is seeking a tax break from the Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency.

GGV Grove LLC plans to acquire a 2.78-acre site at 400 E. Main Street and build three two-story buildings totaling 64,270-square-feet, according to documents submitted to the Brookhaven IDA.

The $34 million project will include a small park and a coffee shop. Nice Place Coffee in Speonk has signed a letter of intent to lease space at The Grove in East Patchogue, said David Gallo, CEO of GGV Grove’s parent company, Georgica Green Ventures. 

“Workforce housing is needed throughout Long Island,” Gallo said.

In East Patchogue, more than half of renters (54.9 percent) pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent, according to a 2020 report by the Regional Plan Association.

The median household income among renters in East Patchogue was $44,667 in 2020, well below the $61,920 in income needed to afford a market-rate one-bedroom apartment or the $76,280 required for a two-bedroom apartment, the report said.

At The Grove, all but one of the apartments, which would be reserved for an on-site building manager, would be income restricted, according to the company’s application.

Seventeen of the 55 units would be supportive housing for survivors of domestic abuse and their families.

Georgica Green Ventures has developed multifamily workforce housing across Long Island including in Middle Island, Riverhead, Speonk and Southampton.

Gallo said tenants at the other properties that Georgica Green has developed are working people, such as hospital workers, restaurant employees and government workers—“the jobs that make our communities work,” he said.

GCV Grove is seeking a reduction in real estate taxes that could total between $14 million and $14.8 million over 30 years. The developer has proposed a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) of between $1.3 million to $2.2 million rather than $16.2 million, according to an analysis prepared by Camoin Associates.

Georgica Green’s other developments have PILOTs in place, Gallo said.

The development would result in hiring nine people and spur more than $54 million in economic impact, including construction spending, over the life of the PILOT, according to an analysis prepared by MRB Group.

GGV Grove said in its application it hopes to acquire the land and begin work in July and complete the project by January 2025.