March 27, 2007

Tom Suozzi and Mo Vaughn Team Up for Affordable Housing in Rockville Centre

-- With Financing - and $1 Million in Annual Rent Subsidies - from Nassau County, the Former Met Rehabilitates 175 Units of Senior and Family Housing

Rockville Centre, N.Y. - Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi today joined developer - and former New York Met - Maurice “Mo” Vaughn for the official opening of 175 units of newly renovated affordable housing in the Village of Rockville Centre.

Thanks in part to financing from Nassau County Industrial Development bonds, Vaughn, managing director and co-founder of Omni New York LLC, acquired Mill River Residences in December 2005. Vaughn, whose career as a developer took off after he retired from professional baseball in 2003, has completed the renovation of the Rockville Centre complex - a six-story building for 95 seniors and garden-style houses for 80 families.

“This is a home-run for the working families of Nassau County,” Suozzi said. “I am delighted the County was able to team up with Mo and get this important work done. Too many seniors and young families are getting priced out of Nassau County, but developments like Mill River make a huge difference.”

Under the Suozzi administration, the County has been instrumental in the creation of more than 1,500 units of affordable housing within Nassau’s borders.

“This is a great example of how the public and private sectors can work together to make people’s lives better,” Vaughn said. “Tom Suozzi is dedicated to increasing the availability of affordable housing in Nassau County. Baseball taught me that without a great team behind you, it’s hard to succeed. I’m proud to be part of Nassau County’s affordable housing team. I am also very proud of the work we’ve done here at the Mill River Residences, and I’m delighted we could work together to make this project a reality.”

The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency issued more than $14 million in industrial revenue bonds – and will allocate $1 million annually in federal rent subsidies – for the purchase and rehabilitation of Mill River. The developer secured Low Income Housing Tax Credits through New York State toward project costs. This financing was made possible because Nassau County provided annual rental subsidies for the project, which made the project financially feasible while maintaining affordability for the tenants.

The median income in Rockville Centre is $119,000, and so the rehabilitation of these affordable housing units - which could have been sold to a market-rate rental or condominium developer - was a priority for the County Executive. Studios rent for $994 a month, one-bedroom units are $1,206, two-bedrooms are $1,423 and three-bedrooms are $1889. All rents include utilities. Tenants’ portion of the rent is 30% of their monthly adjusted income.

The rehabilitation, completed late last year, includes upgrading of the kitchens and baths, new flooring, new windows, upgrading of plumbing and electric fixtures in the apartment interiors, a new elevator infrastructure, new roofs, new porticos, new entrance doors, improved common areas and brick pointing, landscaping, repaving of the parking lots, an extensive DVR security camera system consisting of 60 cameras throughout the property and keyless entry installed into the main entrances.

Vaughn and Omni New York are accomplished developers, having rehabilitated more than 1,100 units of affordable housing in New York City and Nassau County. Vaughn does not focus solely on the physical structures, but also on building communities, by working with neighborhood groups to provide after-school programs, skill-building seminars and classes for adults.

Omni New York is currently nearing completion of 240 units of affordable housing in the Village of Hempstead.