How Long Island Projects Can Cut Through Red Tape And Community Opposition To Cross The Finish Line

Long Island encompasses 1,200 zoning districts spread throughout two cities, 13 towns and 97 villages, with each district having its own rules and regulations.

Among the builders navigating this regulatory landscape is The Kulka Group, a Long Island-based construction management company spearheading development and large-scale construction projects and renovations throughout the Tri-State Area. The firm’s projects span multiple sectors, including multifamily, office, self-storage and education. 

On Aug. 12, The Kulka Group CEO Devin Kulka will discuss how to develop in this regulatory landscape at Bisnow’s Long Island Real Estate Conference. His panel, titled Keys to Securing Approvals, Entitlements and Delivering Developments, will dive into how to best work with stakeholders to get projects approved and keep them moving forward. Click here to purchase tickets.

“When we build on Long Island, we’re not just building and leaving. We give back to the community through our projects and fundraising initiatives,” Kulka said. “Our work is about having an impact on the communities we’re building in.”

Kulka spoke with Bisnow about the region’s building trends, obstacles and bright spots, emphasizing the importance of transparency when interacting with communities and their leaders. 

Bisnow: What challenges come with building on Long Island today?

Kulka: The biggest challenge is that misinformation about projects spreads like wildfire. As of right zoning — when a development adheres to all zoning requirements — doesn’t always happen on Long Island. You have to get ahead of community opposition by meeting with the local government officials and residents and delivering the facts to get things done. 

There's so much discretion to develop on Long Island because there aren't any more multifamily-zoned properties here, for example, that you can just purchase and then build. Everything, for the most part, needs to be rezoned. Once you go through rezoning, you need to go through a public hearing, and once you open up that door, more often than not, the people that show up are those coming out against the project.

Bisnow: What opportunities are you seeing?

Kulka: The strong sectors on Long Island are multifamily, healthcare and education. In multifamily, the supply is significantly lower than the demand. Once you get over the hurdle of getting a project entitled, financed and then built, you will fill the building with tenants at or exceeding your projections. But the process is hard, not just in the entitlement stages but in the capital markets process and getting institutional equity and/or debt, because there's so much red tape here.

In multifamily, we’re seeing a lot of downtown revitalizations and transit-oriented development. We’re also starting to see some projects pushing outside of the downtown areas.

Bisnow: How does The Kulka Group work with stakeholders to navigate Long Island’s regulatory landscape, mitigate risks and ensure projects move forward efficiently?

Kulka: Upfront transparency is really important. Sit down with community leaders, decision-makers and those who have strong voices in their community, and just be transparent. It doesn't always mean a project is never going to happen, but a quick no is almost as good as a yes, because you don't want to go through a long, drawn-out process just to get a no. 

It's really important for construction managers to sit with community leaders and not just dictate what you're going to do in their community, but tell them what you'd like to do and that you'd love their input. Let them feel like they have some influence in a part of that project.

We had a project in a local town where the downtown revitalization plan, formed in 2015, indicated a preference against affordable housing. When we first approached the town around eight years after that, they still were very hesitant about it. We were able to meet with a local civic organization, explain to them the income levels of the people who are going to be living there and what the rents are going to be, and got them to understand that this is a good thing for the community.

We had multiple civic meetings, many conversations with the political leaders, and ultimately, we got it built and everybody's really proud of it. It was a huge success.

Bisnow: What do you think will be the hottest topic of conversation at the Long Island Real Estate Conference?

Kulka: There have been constant attacks against the industrial development agencies. First, specific projects that get tax benefits due to IDA involvement are, as a result, subject to paying prevailing wages. Now there's the threat of removing IDA incentives for multifamily projects.

People have a false narrative that IDAs are just putting more money in developers' pockets. But the reality is, without the benefits that an IDA gives a developer, neither those projects nor those construction jobs will come to fruition. The economic impact of a great project also doesn't come to fruition. 

Bisnow: What do you hope attendees will take away from your panel?

Kulka: I want people to understand and know the importance of speaking to their neighbor. You don't have to show up to the Tuesday night public board meeting to support a project, but when you're sitting in your backyard at your barbecue and somebody is spewing misinformation that they read on social media, hear them out, but also stand up and talk about it. I think it's really important that we, as a community, talk to one another and shoot down misinformation when it's being spread.

Click here to learn more about the Long Island Real Estate Conference.

This article was produced in collaboration between The Kulka Group and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.