Saturday, April 26, 2025
Applications are now open for Baldwin Commons, an all-affordable apartment building on Merrick Road. The building will offer 33 below-market-rate units through a housing lottery, which runs until April 8.
The new four-story building will offer a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, with rents starting at $1,347. Two-thirds of the units are one-bedrooms and six units are two-bedrooms.
The project is a joint venture between developer Alan Handelman of Rochester-based Park Grove Realty and Community Development Long Island. It is part of Baldwin’s downtown revitalization initiative, which received a $10 million state grant from Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2021. Of that funding, $850,000 will go toward the apartment building.
According to the application available at BaldwinCommons.com, income restrictions vary by family size. A two-person household earning up to $62,500 qualifies for a one-bedroom unit at $1,347 per month. Meanwhile, a three-person household with a combined income of up to $84,360 qualifies for a two-bedroom apartment at $1,965.
The site of the apartment building once occupied a pawnbroker shop and an auto-parts store. Most recently, a local dealership used the site to park cars.
Baldwin’s downtown revitalization initiative aims to transform the area into a more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly community with new housing, businesses, and infrastructure upgrades.
In addition to Baldwin Commons, a 215-unit development by Breslin Realty, called The Grand at Baldwin, is under construction about half a mile away. The mixed-use building will sit on a formerly vacant site on Sunrise Highway, across from the Long Island Rail Road station.
The initiative also included $3 million for streetscape and infrastructure improvements, such as upgraded sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, and crosswalks to enhance safety and walkability.
To ease traffic congestion and improve public transportation access, the plan calls for enhancements around the Baldwin Long Island Rail Road station. Local businesses will also benefit from storefront improvement grants, designed to help revitalize commercial properties and attract more customers.
Nassau County Legislator Debra Mule, who has voiced her support on the revitalization initiative, wrote to the Herald the potential benefits the complex would bring to Baldwin and across Long Island’s housing affordability crisis.
“The completion of Baldwin Commons is a long time coming,” she wrote. “Baldwin residents and business owners have eagerly anticipated results from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, and we are all hopeful that this will be a major catalyst for smart growth that reinvigorates downtown Baldwin and serves as a community-driven model for confronting Long Island’s housing affordability crisis.”
