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The former Ross compound in East Hampton
Villadom might sound like the name of a character in the brand-new “Harry Potter” novel, but East Hampton Village officials may be hearing it in a context far different than Hogwarts. The Villadom Corporation is the entity behind the LLCs that have purchased from David Geffen the remaining parcels of the former Courtney Ross estate on Georgica Pond.
This past May, The Press reported that Mr. Geffen had purchased a property on Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton. The following month it was revealed that the media-turned-real-estate-mogul had sold the West End Road estate that once belonged to the widow of Time Warner honcho Steve Ross. The announced price was $67.3 million, just over $17 million more than he paid for it two years ago. This may help offset what Mr. Geffen forked over for the Lily Pond estate, which was $70 million.
Initially, it appeared that Mr. Geffen, who among other achievements founded the DreamWorks movie company with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, intended to keep both the Lily Pond property and the 5.5-acre former Ross estate. With a fortune that Forbes Magazine contends is $6.5 billion, Mr. Geffen could easily afford to do so. Apparently, however, the 7-bedroom, 7,500-square-foot home with a three-bedroom guest house anchoring the estate proved too appealing to a buyer and Mr. Geffen agreed to the new transaction.
Actually, the Georgica Pond property consists of four parcels. Earlier this month, The Press reported that 30 West End Road, the parcel with the main residence on it, was sold for $12 million. The purchaser was listed as Summerhouse30 LLC, one implication being that all four parcels could be separate transactions. However, while county records have 20 West End Avenue (for $5.9 million), 24 West End Avenue ($14.1 million), and 26 West End Avenue ($18 million) as separate deals, the single buyer is three “West End Lot” LLCs which were established this past April by Villadom Corp. (Yes, there is an apparent discrepancy between what was reported as the sale price presumably paid to Mr. Geffen for all four parcels, $67.3 million, and the $50 million total for the four listed in Suffolk County records.)
The reason why Villadom should be at least a blip on East Hampton’s radar is that the Nassau County company, founded in 1995 by Kouras Torkan, is a builder of commercial spaces and spec homes. The Huntington Town Board is soon to hold a hearing on a zone change that would allow Villadom to go ahead with an $80 million, 390,000-square-foot commercial development on Jericho Turnpike, and recently completed by the company was a large-scale Apple Store at Miracle Mile in Manhasset.
On eastern Long Island, Villadom is the builder of six spec houses that comprise the Lighthouse Landing subdivision off Route 114 in the Village of Sag Harbor. And according to a company website about Torkan, “His latest Hamptons ventures include the development and building of 22 distinct lifestyle homes in the heart of Bridgehampton’s horse country, as well as ventures in Sagaponack south.” The narative adds, “The design features and amenities included in his homes are unmatched in the Hampton’s [sic] marketplace.”
Could East Hampton be next to experience such unmatched qualities? It will be interesting to see how long it takes Villadom to present village planners with construction designs for its newly acquired West End Road properties.
on Jul 29, 2016