NYS awards East Hampton $7M to build modular, prefab homes for affordable housing

East Hampton Town will receive more than $7 million from New York’s prefabricated homes construction program to build affordable housing — the first on Long Island to win the funding.

The grant, from the state’s MOVE-IN NY program, will help jumpstart the long-stalled Cantwell Court, a proposed affordable housing subdivision on town-owned land off Pantigo Road. The lots were approved by the town in 2023, but no homes have been built on the property. Proposals came in too expensive to sell the 16 planned homes at prices affordable for low- and moderate-income buyers.

The initiative uses factory-built “CrossMod” homes, which resemble traditional single-family houses but can be built more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional homes.

Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said the funding will allow local families to remain in East Hampton. The award comes as housing affordability continues to worsen on Long Island and in particular, the East End. The median home sale price in the Hamptons climbed 18.3% to a record $2.4 million during the first quarter, Newsday previously reported.

“When I asked Governor Hochul for help making these homes possible, I was thinking about the families who want to stay in East Hampton and build their lives here,” Burke-Gonzalez said in a statement. 

The houses are built to federal standards and meet design guidelines approved by mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, allowing buyers to qualify for conventional mortgages.

“Homeownership in New York should be within reach for families at every stage of life, whether you’re buying your first home, downsizing in retirement or putting down roots for the first time,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

Earlier this year, East Hampton identified the MOVE-IN NY program as a possible solution for Cantwell Court after state officials announced a pilot program that produced three modular homes in upstate New York.

Those 1,500-square-foot homes — each with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a porch and garage — cost about $250,000 apiece to build and install, according to the state. Town officials have said that price point is accessible to many on the town’s affordable homeownership list and are quick to construct.

Under the program guidelines, the homes must be sold to families earning between 70% and 130% of Long Island’s area median income, with the average income of all buyers totaling about 100% of AMI — or $164,300 for a family of four.

East Hampton was the first town in Suffolk County to be certified as a pro-housing community. To become eligible for a pot of associated state aid, the town promised to increase housing stock and make it easier to build multifamily and affordable housing.