Young Innovators Propose Affordable Housing Solution in Sag Harbor

The historic village of Sag Harbor has been trying to establish more affordable housing units for several years now, but efforts have been halting.

Now, two young men, both recent college graduates, told the village board this summer that they have a plan – and their plan received enthusiastic support from members of the council.

Jack Lyons, 23, of Sag Harbor who graduated this past June from Pratt Institute of Architecture in Brooklyn, and Kai Latham, also 23, of Greenport, who graduated in May from U Mass Amherst with an engineering degree, said they are planning to build accessory dwelling units in the village.

Village Mayor Thomas Gardella has described as “a crises,” the lack of affordable housing in Sag Harbor.

Across Long Island, officials and resident have called for more affordable housing as young people leave Nassau and Suffolk counties because of soaring housing costs that outpace wages. The median sale price of a home on Long Island was an eye-popping $755,000 during the summer, up 5.6 percent over the last year.

In interviews with Dan’s Papers, Lyon and Latham, said young people are being priced out of the village, as well as people who work for local businesses and teachers at Sag Harbor schools who must now commute from distant parts of Long Island.

The idea for affordable housing units in Sag Harbor came after Lyons spent time in Europe this past year. His college thesis was focused on that subject and he spent time in Germany and Spain observing construction of such dwellings. He had also spent time in Europe working for an affordable housing start-up.

“I saw the agriculture workers struggling” for housing in Spain, Lyons said.

“I said, this idea could be applied anywhere,” he added, meeting on his return to the United States with Latham, who he has known since early school days on the East End.

That’s when the two sat down and formed a non-profit, Pinth-Labs, in Sag Harbor. (Pinth is an architectural term for the lower slab of a house or building.)

“Currently there’s a deficit of affordable housing” in Sag Harbor and the East End, Lyons said.

In the interviews, Lyons and Latham said they would need to line up private financing to build the units, which are pre-fabricated homes. They are often located on an existing home owner’s property and are usually independent of the main home.

They are also called granny flats or in-law apartments. Their construction depends on local zoning and building codes. Lyons and Latham said their units would be in compliance with such codes in Sag Harbor elsewhere. They two may appear before the Southampton village board with a similar proposal. Lyons said owners of local restaurants, who hire seasonal help, would be interested in supporting such housing.

Lyons estimated the cost of construction could be about $100,000 per unit. The units would then be rented out at a monthly charge of between $2,200 to $2,500 a month, Latham said. Latham said the one-bedroom units would be about 270 square-feet and include a bathroom and kitchen.

The two said they would approach local business owners who employee people looking for affordable housing in the village, as well as investors.

They said they may also attempt to tap into a New York State program, called Plus One ADU. The state’s budget has made available $85 million to create and upgrade such units across the state.

At the village board meeting, Gardella called the presentation by the two “excellent,” and added, “You’ve recognized we have a housing crises and it affects, probably, your generation more than anyone, and you have decided to do something about it, to put your knowledge and passion into it.”

Lyons and Latham said the next step is to build a “demonstration unit” so that officials and potential investors could see how such dwellings look. If all goes well, Latham said, he and Lyons could develop as many as 100 such units in the next few years.

Lyons and Latham said they are currently in tough with the Suffolk County Health Department regarding the use of septic tanks at the units.

Sag Harbor’s high cost of living has made living there particularly difficult for seasonal workers. The village in 2022 adopted an affordable housing code but a portion of it was struck down by New York’s State Supreme Court, the following year.