Brothers find affordable-housing niche a good fit

Brothers find affordable-housing niche a good fit
BY KATHY KAHN

Larry Rega with rendering of Views at Rocky Glen, an 82-unit apartment complex planned for the town of Fishkill.

While many talk the affordable-housing talk, Larry Regan and his brother, Ken, bring the concept to life. The principals of Regan Development in Ardsley have been building homes and apartment complexes for low-to middle-income families and seniors since they began their business 20 years ago.

“It was a niche we felt comfortable with right from the start and one we remain comfortable working with. Providing decent housing is our goal,” Larry Regan said.

Regan had been building low-cost two-family homes and apartment complexes long before the oxymoron “affordable housing” became the Hudson Valley buzzword. Regan’s first few projects were in Westchester County, but land prices became out of reach for the brothers. They turned their attention to other areas of the tri-state region, places like Middletown and Poughkeepsie, where need was great and municipalities were anxious to work to keep their work force and seniors in the community.

“Affordable housing happens where municipalities work to make it happen,” said Regan, who emerged from a town of Fishkill zoning board meeting last week with renderings for his latest project in hand. Final approval for Views at Rocky Glen was granted, bringing him one step closer to getting the planning board’s final approval for 82 units of work-force housing planned on Route 52.

Views at Rocky Glen is set to go up on a nearly11-acre parcel three-quarters of a mile down the road from the Fishkill Town Hall. The bus route runs in front of the proposed development, another plus for working families who need transportation.

This is not the first Fishkill project for Regan Development. Horizons at Fishkill on Dogwood Lane brought 90 market-rate housing units to seniors, with rents ranging from $790 to $944 for the one- and two-bedroom units more than a year ago. When it comes to working with the Dutchess County municipality, Regan has nothing but praise for Joan Pagones, Fishkill’s town supervisor.

“She is a very forward thinker when it comes to the needs of the community,” Regan said. “The town has an Affordable Housing Office set up specifically to help residents who want to stay in Fishkill. Clearly, any community willing to create a ‘floating zone’ to promote affordable housing is a winner,” Regan said.

Other mid-Hudson projects the Regans are working on include Horizons at Waywayanda in Orange County, 107 work-force housing rental units that have preliminary site plan approval. Regan will return to the planning board in that municipality on March 9, hoping for preliminary site plan approval. Regan’s other project, Horizons at Wurtsboro, is nearing completion. The Sullivan County project, which already has a waiting list, will provide 49 senior rental apartments.

Regan will be one of many builders, developers, planners, bankers and other interested parties meeting to form a Workforce Housing Partnership spearheaded by Gerald Jacobowitz, founding partner of Jacobowitz & Gubits in Walden. The goal, says Jacobowitz, is to form a strategic alliance and encourage municipalities to allow work-force housing of all types -- apartments, two-family affordable homes, town homes, senior housing and accessory apartments -- to balance the growing McMansion landscape.

“There is truly a need for our communities to realize our future; our children will have no place to live once they reach adulthood. We are already losing them, they are moving farther north, sometimes out of state altogether, just to find an affordable place to live,” said Tony Figueroa, director of planning, development and contract compliance for RECAP in Middletown.

Several banks, including Provident and Orange County Trust, will take part in the partnership, which they hope will help build consensus for planning and zoning boards to change their mindset.

Brenda Cox, vice president and community relations officer at Provident’s Montebello headquarters, says housing is at an all-time premium in the Hudson Valley, with many priced out of the market.

“Our ambulance workers, teachers, store clerks and so many others don’t have the six-figure income to buy what’s now being built. The result is, we are losing our work force, the very people we need to keep our economy stable and growing, and we are losing our college graduates. Building housing that can accommodate this group and for the senior population is the goal.”

While state grants and low-cost loans help defray costs, banks play a pivotal role in affordable housing initiatives. When Regan was building Horizons at Fishkill, Key Bank provided a letter of credit for $8.2 million to help keep debt down, allowing for lower rents.

“There are towns out there changing the way they do business and building affordable housing to keep their communities stable,” Regan said. He plans to be at the March 6 meeting in Walden and become part of the initiative to bring skyrocketing housing prices a little bit closer to earth.

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