Former Port trailer park site gets new life at last

Work has begun on Spring Harbor Senior Apartments, a 40-unit senior living facility being built on the site of a former trailer park on South Spring Street in Port Washington.

Will Rutherford, a development associate with Horizon Development Group, said Tuesday that work to clear the site began April 20. 

Construction of the three-story, 40-unit senior living apartment building for people ages 55 and older is expected to begin within a month, he said.

“It’s very exciting,” Rutherford said. “This has been a long process.”

Construction is expected to take about a year, he said, adding Horizon has a contingency plan to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic as needed.

The apartments are being developed with tax credits, making it an affordable housing development.

“This project is a great step toward improving affordability in an era when prices continue to rise and many seniors are on fixed incomes,” Rutherford said.    The one-bedroom units are expected to rent for between $365 and $900 a month, depending on whether they are rent restricted or market rate, and the two-bedroom units for $760 to $1,000, he said.

Rutherford said Horizon has received a great deal of interest in the project from potential renters.

The development is being financed in part through a pay-as-you-go tax incremental financing district, in which the developer pays the infrastructure costs initially but recoups those costs through the increase in value of the property.

Horizon purchased the site from the City of Port Washington, which bought it as a redevelopment property.

However, the fact there are electrical high lines that cross the land, railroad tracks on the east side of the lot and a trailer park next door limited interest in the parcel.

Horizon bought the 2.4-acre property for $280,000 using a promissory note that will be paid by Jan. 1,  2036, according to the city.