Garden City Residents..what do you think of Avalon Bay? (rentals, condominiums)

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

Your math is false. Contrary to what some people on LI seem to think, the owners of rental properties pay property taxes (and charge rent accordingly) so GC will not be out of pocket unless everyone's cramming 3 kids into every apartment. (And don't forget, if your $20K is correct, most homeowners aren't paying their kids' way either.) So, GC will not only be NOT paying that $200K, but receiving property taxes on the development--unless they've given Avalon a tax break, which is their own problem.

This is typical LI thinking, and it's shortsighted and wrong. You know what happens when you don't build legal rentals? people split their houses, causing congestion in single family neighborhoods. Many of them don't get permits, so you get an illegal-rental problem. And you know those low-cost Southern states many of you speak of so admiringly? Go see how many rental complexes there are, even in nice towns.

Not all renters (cough, cough) are low-rent immigrants with a bunch of kids who are going to invade your schools. Long Island's dearth of rentals doesn't just keep "undesirables" out--it keeps out young professionals and families who are unable or not yet ready to buy.

Unless they're willing to accept Section 8 (unlikely) the renters in those units are going to be well off. (I know Avalon rents, and they're not cheap.) What unit sizes are they building? If they're building a lot of 1 bedrooms, you won't see many families at all. 2 beds will get some families, but many will be couples with babies. The load on the schools is not going to be huge. (The Avalon in Melville, which does have quite a few kids, has a sizeable number of 3 bed units and a quarter are reserved for affordable housing.)

More 55+ units are not what LI needs.

For comparisons sake, I looked up the tax data for Avalon Towers in Long Beach - a building with 109 units and what would likely be comparable rents. The owners of that building paid ~$690,000 in school taxes alone last year. So right off the bat, let's take away that $200k and add $690k to the tax base and we're already up $40k on the "projected" increase in spending per student. According to the website linked above, there are 4,212 students in the Garden City school district, spread out over seven schools. Is anyone really going to notice another six kids per school? Come on...

This is a microcosm of why stupid development happens on LI. If I lived in GC I'd be thrilled with this plan just for the sake of being able to save such a notable LI landmark.

For anyone that isn't familiar with Saint Paul's School (which is on the National Register of Historic Places) here's a good page on it:

St. Paul's School in Garden City - Bygoneli.com

[AlexisT]

FWIW, where I used to live, quite a few old schools (and a former mental hospital--the Colney Hatch Asylum) were converted into luxury flats. The results can be really nice.

If it's on the Register, they may not be able to tear it down.

[azzurrony]

Sean,

I'm not sure what taxes Avalon will pay here though. I think they are getting a break for 20 yrs or so.

Look, there are a lot of issues here. There is added school cost but also many city services that will be made available to the renters. Also, there is the question of added traffic on Stewart. I'm moving about 15 blocks from St. Paul's and I'm not sure we need more traffic heading down Stewart.

We all wish we could save St. Paul's, but I'm not sure this Avalon Bay is the best way to do it.

[nbres]

Originally Posted by azzurrony

ACORN is a detestable organization. If they tried to push their way in GC, I'd picket in front of St. Paul's myself.

Basically there are 3 choices--Avalon, Mothball it, or destroy it.

This Avalon Bay is sounding worse and worse. They better not ram it through. I'll vote for destroying it and then we can use that land for other activities.

On my post you said race doesn't matter, but here you are willing to demonstrate to keep ACORN from establishing housing for needy people in Garden City.

What are you worried about?

Garden City needs some diversity.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by nbres

On my post you said race doesn't matter, but here you are willing to demonstrate to keep ACORN from establishing housing for needy people in Garden City.

What are you worried about?

Garden City needs some diversity.

Like I said before, Rich White Guys need affordable housing too.

I imagine todays Citibank layoffs will be very painful for GC considering how many people there work in the Financial sector.

Brother can you spare a Bentley.

crooks

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by azzurrony

Sean,

I'm not sure what taxes Avalon will pay here though. I think they are getting a break for 20 yrs or so.

Look, there are a lot of issues here. There is added school cost but also many city services that will be made available to the renters. Also, there is the question of added traffic on Stewart. I'm moving about 15 blocks from St. Paul's and I'm not sure we need more traffic heading down Stewart.

We all wish we could save St. Paul's, but I'm not sure this Avalon Bay is the best way to do it.

No matter what the tax "break" they get will be, the fact is that having a rental property instead of a vacant building or vacant land is going to cost the taxpayer a lot less. Do you think demolition is free? Do you think building and maintaining athletic fields would be without cost? Any other (village, not city) services would be paid for on the property end of the tax bill (the $690k mentioned earlier is only the SCHOOL portion) so that is completely negligible.

Is the traffic really that big of a deal? I doubt the increase in volume would be that noticeable, considering that traffic on Stewart Avenue is already pretty bad and it's not going to change anytime soon...unless Adelphi University relocates. If you were that concerned about the traffic, why would you (and everyone else in the area) even decide to live there?

[azzurrony]

Originally Posted by nbres

On my post you said race doesn't matter, but here you are willing to demonstrate to keep ACORN from establishing housing for needy people in Garden City.

What are you worried about?

Garden City needs some diversity.

Race doesn't matter, but socioeconomics does. Section 8 type housing isn't exactly a good thing for GC. We don't pay all those taxes for nothing.

Also, why does Garden City "need" diversity? And, in fact, what is diversity? Is it just color of skin, or is it ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, sexual preference..or something else?

GC is full of Italians, Irish, German, English, Scots, Greeks, Jews and more. Right there you have 7 ethnicities and 4 religions. You make it sound like England in the 1600's. Ridiculous.

[azzurrony]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Like I said before, Rich White Guys need affordable housing too.

I imagine todays Citibank layoffs will be very painful for GC considering how many people there work in the Financial sector.

Brother can you spare a Bentley.

crooks

Yup, because all GC folk drive Bentleys. I guess I'm going to be white trash in GC with my Honda Accord.

[azzurrony]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

No matter what the tax "break" they get will be, the fact is that having a rental property instead of a vacant building or vacant land is going to cost the taxpayer a lot less. Do you think demolition is free? Do you think building and maintaining athletic fields would be without cost? Any other (village, not city) services would be paid for on the property end of the tax bill (the $690k mentioned earlier is only the SCHOOL portion) so that is completely negligible.

Is the traffic really that big of a deal? I doubt the increase in volume would be that noticeable, considering that traffic on Stewart Avenue is already pretty bad and it's not going to change anytime soon...unless Adelphi University relocates. If you were that concerned about the traffic, why would you (and everyone else in the area) even decide to live there?

Well, it's not like Stewart is Jericho Turnpike or anything. However, I will be 5 houses in from Stewart, so all things being equal, it would be nice not to have additional traffic there. Is it enough to forego all the other tons of positives of GC? No, but it is relevant.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by azzurrony

Yup, because all GC folk drive Bentleys. I guess I'm going to be white trash in GC with my Honda Accord.

Dude I effin' with you.
You and your no sense of humor should fit right in on Stewart ave.
; )
Go with a PRC with some affordable and youll be fine.
Its better than mothballs.

crooks