Is Sag Harbor going Florida? Are charming cottages going the way of the Dodo, to be replaced by sprawling cookie-cutter condos? If so, are swank summer benefits going to be replaced by canasta tournaments? Worrying about canasta tournaments may be a bit over the line, but if developers have their way, we may be seeing the beginning of the Boca-ization of the Hamptons.

Item: the Bulova Watchcase Factory, Gardiner’s Bay. Once a major East End employer, the Bulova Watchcase Factory has manufactured a variety of jewelry and, in later years, watch cases. Sitting on 2.5 acres on the East Hampton side of Sag Harbor, the BWF building was built in 1880. Many neighboring houses are historic, some having been restored to their former glory.

Bulova closed the factory in 1981. The site is contaminated with heavy metals, earning it a place on New York’s Superfund list, and the structure is in complete disrepair. Neighbors agree something needs to be done – about the contaminants and the eyesore. Shall we raise funds to clean up the site and turn the building into a museum? Shall an intrepid investor clean up the site and build an 1880s-style mansion? Sounds nice, but the answer turns out to be condos.

Developing firm Cape Advisors has bought the building for $16 million. After ridding the site of contaminants (a project in itself), the developers propose to build condos consisting of 63 apartments and 18 other units in the style of “townhouses”. The plans include units from 600 square feet and larger, including a 2,700-square-foot duplex. There will be a glass-enclosed swimming pool and a courtyard. There will be two waterfront units.

The Planning Board of Sag Harbor has received the proposal, but is only one of five Village boards that ultimately must pass on the project. The developers appear to understand the historic nature of the area, and have retained Beyer Blinder Belle as its architectural firm. That firm is best known for the glorious restoration of the Grand Central Terminal. In addition, the developers will utilize energy-saving heating and cooling systems, such as solar panels and underground geothermal cooling pipes.

Plans now contemplate large windows and exposed brick and heavy timber, so as to create an open feel with plenty of light. Whether this concept, repeated for the pool, will suffice, remains to be seen, as the historic neighboring homes (for all their charm) are not known for their large windows and airy feel.

Item: 21 West Water Street. As reported in this paper last year, 21 West Water Street, the bane of neighboring residents because of rowdy weekend parties all summer (complete with drug busts), may be turned into condos. Developer Code Red (Michael Maidan) proposes to build 20 condos at that site, as well as a boardwalk across West Water Street leading to the bay.

Given the many years of complaints about the various nightclubs that have come and gone (at times with a new name but the same owner), many local residents are delighted to see the demise of the current building, particularly because the proposal actually calls for an increase in open space. The developers plan to work within the Village’s zoning rules, including its “pyramid rule” which prohibits taller buildings from being erected in front of shorter buildings.

Item: Ferry Road. Imagine driving down Long Beach Road towards Sag Harbor (having just passed the small condos on Noyac Road), traversing the traffic circle and heading along Ferry Road towards the bridge into Sag Harbor. Now imagine that you are looking at condos. Mr. Maidan, of the same Code Red proposing to develop 21 West Water Street, proposes to build 22 condos on Ferry Road. Each condo would come with its own boat slip, no doubt generating a feeding frenzy when the units are put on the market.

And Sag Harbor is not alone. A developer has proposed to convert the Canoe Place Inn, in Southampton Township’s Hampton Bays, to a 75-unit “resident club” on the 5.65-acre property. The units would be owned on a fractional basis, similar to a time-share arrangement. The current structures (including several cottages) would be razed in favor of an enormous facility with an underground garage and its own sewage treatment plant. The Southampton Planning Board has, so far, received the proposal well.

As for Sag Hag Harbor, with three large-scale projects being proposed in a area small enough such that one could walk from project to project, the Village is looking carefully not only at the look and feel of the projects, but also the stress that each project will put on the village’s infrastructure and traffic while underway.

Each developer certainly deserves a fair hearing, particularly those who are acting responsibly in offering up responsible plans that work well with the historic nature of the Village. But who ever thought that little Sag Harbor, with its collection of artists, bohemians, other un-Hampton types, and those who enjoy that atmosphere, would one day be home to a tight collection of over 125 condo units? We may be witnesses the end of an era.

Condo Hampton

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