Melville Town Center 2026: New Homes Coming to Maxess & Baylis Road

Melville Crossing, Cornerstone Melville and 80 Baylis Road: what Melville’s new town center means for buyers and Dix Hills homeowners.

Underwriters Laboratories office campus in Melville

The Underwriters Laboratories office campus in Melville, shown as an illustration of the area’s office landscape, not a rendering or photograph of the proposed projects. Photo: Jim.henderson / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 public domain.

By Ron Lanzillotta

For decades, Melville has been Long Island's office park. That is changing. Three projects and proposals along Maxess Road and Baylis Road could reshape the corridor south of the Long Island Expressway. If you're thinking about buying a condo, downsizing out of a Dix Hills colonial, or just keeping an eye on your home's value, here is where things stand this fall.

What Is the Melville Town Center Overlay District?

In December 2024, the Huntington Town Board created the Melville Town Center Overlay District. The new zoning lets developers turn underused and outdated office buildings and empty parking lots into as many as 1,500 new multifamily homes, along with neighborhood retail and pocket parks. The overlay runs from the LIE south to Ruland Road, and from Walt Whitman Road east to Pinelawn Road. It covers Maxess Road, Baylis Road, Corporate Center Drive and Melville Park Road.

The overlay has a built-in brake. The town can pause new residential approvals after every 400 units and study the effects on traffic, emergency services and schools. Every project also needs its own site-specific environmental review.

Project One: Melville Crossing at 75 Maxess Road

The first approval came in April 2026. The Town Board voted 4 to 1 for Steel Equities' $130 million Melville Crossing. It replaces a 170,000-square-foot office/industrial building on a 16.6-acre site. According to Long Island Business News, the plan includes:

290 rental apartments, including 40 live/work units
110 for-sale condominiums
37,300 square feet of retail
A public plaza, a promenade and a walking trail
A 6,300-square-foot clubhouse

Hoodline reports that 20 percent of the units are set aside as affordable housing for households earning up to 80 percent of Area Median Income. The developer still needs site plan approval before construction can start.

What it means for buyers: The 110 planned condos could add new-construction, for-sale options in the Melville area. For empty-nesters in Dix Hills, Melville and Huntington, it may be a way to downsize without leaving the Half Hollow Hills area. Confirm school district and school assignment directly with the district using the full property address.

Project Two: Cornerstone Melville on Baylis Road

The second project is Cornerstone Melville, filed with the town as MTCO-25-2. It sits on the north side of Baylis Road, just east of Maxess Road. The Melville Chamber of Commerce says the developer has proposed a four-story building with about 168 homes, mostly studios and one-bedrooms, with 20 percent set aside as workforce housing. Below the homes would be about 20,000 square feet of retail, including a planned bistro and café with outdoor seating on Baylis Road.

The public hearing took place September 15, and the special use permit appeared on the Town Board’s October 6 agenda. In an October 7 statement, the Half Hollow Hills Central School District confirmed the town’s approval of Cornerstone Melville. Approval conditions and remaining site-plan requirements should be checked with the town before making purchase or construction plans.

There is real debate over this project. On September 14, the Half Hollow Hills Central School District wrote to the board and asked it to hold off on Cornerstone until the district can see how Melville Crossing affects enrollment. If you're buying in the district, this is worth watching.

Project Three: 80 Baylis Road, the Former Henry Schein Building

Long Island Business News reported on September 25 that Jericho-based B2K Development is in contract to buy 80 Baylis Road. The site is a vacant 184,795-square-foot office building on 10.9 acres, across the street from the planned NYU Langone medical campus. B2K has not filed an application. Reports say it is weighing for-sale homes, rentals, an assisted living facility, or some mix of the three.

Senior Living Near Half Hollow Road

Another project is in the works near the Dix Hills border. A Suffolk County Planning Commission staff report covers a site plan from Benchmark Senior Living of Dix Hills: a three-story, 104,061-square-foot assisted living facility with 115 units and 134 beds. It would sit on about 5.5 acres at Half Hollow Road and the LIE North Service Road, on land that was long used for landscape nursery stock. Many Dix Hills families are planning for aging parents nearby, and this project could add an option close to home.

What This Means for Your Home Value

Higher rates are making buyers think harder about payments. Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average went above 7 percent in late September and hit 7.28 percent on October 1. Even so, Long Island homes are still selling. About 56 percent of September closings in Nassau and Suffolk sold above their final asking price, and Suffolk's median sale was $725,000, based on a OneKey MLS analysis.

Melville and Dix Hills have historically had very few walkable, low-maintenance homes. New condos and retail could make the area more appealing to younger professionals and downsizers alike. That said, new supply and concerns about school enrollment are real issues, and they will play out over years, not months. If you own a single-family home in Dix Hills or Melville, the best next step is a pricing conversation based on the latest sales on your street, not on headlines.