Southampton shifts zoning to allow workforce housing, signs hotel agreement and sets 130% AMI cap

Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger said the village has adopted zoning changes to allow workforce housing in underutilized office districts and has negotiated terms with the Southampton Inn to secure workforce housing units as part of an expansion agreement.

"We just changed the village code to allow workforce housing in the underutilized office business district," Manger said, noting Hampton Road and North Sea Road as primary office corridors that have surplus space since the pandemic reduced demand for traditional office occupancy.

As part of a expansion arrangement, Manger said the Southampton Inn will convert or add apartments for workers and offer on-site lower-level housing for employees to reduce commutes. "They're going to provide on a lower level housing for employees of the Southampton Inn that will be able to live on site," he said.

On eligibility and affordability, Manger described a formula linking rent to household income and said the village set a maximum eligibility threshold at 130% of area median income (AMI) for these workforce units. "So, I believe in our formula, we said they could go up to 130% of the average mean income, AMI," he said.

Manger framed the measures as ways to bring teachers, nurses and volunteer first responders closer to jobs and to reopen second-floor apartments in the downtown area that had been shut due to wastewater constraints. He said the village used consultant BFJ to update its comprehensive plan and zoning approach for the office district.

The mayor did not provide exact unit counts, project timelines, or enforcement mechanisms for occupancy or rent restrictions during the interview.

Ending: The mayor portrayed the code change and private expansion agreement as immediate steps to increase housing supply for village workers, with details to be finalized through permits and development approvals.