This 1-acre vacant lot is located far south of the highway in Remsenburg. It fronts on a canal that connects to Moriches Bay, inside of Dune Road in Westhampton.
Purchasing vacant land in environmentally sensitive locations such as this one always requires caution on the part of buyers. The “buildability” of such lots is typically governed by three overlapping, and at times conflicting, sets of regulations.
First, the zoning code of the town or village where the property is located generally requires significant setbacks from wetlands; and the granting of variances from these setbacks are permitted on a discretionary basis. Second, the Suffolk County Health Department regulates the installation of septic systems, which can pollute local waterways if incorrectly designed or installed. Third, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation mandates its own wetland setbacks (which may differ from local zoning) and imposes its own permit process.
Successfully navigating the permit process can take years and tens of thousands of dollars in legal, survey, architect and engineering fees. But the grant of permits adds significant value to a wetland lot by assuring a buyer what can be constructed upon it.
In this case, the canal was already bulkheaded, which requires permits, and there are permits in place for a dock and house of approximately 5,700 square feet. The seller purchased this lot in 1997 for $285,000. While his permit costs are unknown (as well as other transaction costs), his gross annual rate of return on this investment was a very healthy 13 percent.
This .2-acre lot is located north of the highway in the North Sea area of Southampton. It was purchased by a developer who is constructing a four-bedroom, 3½-bath, 2,500-square-foot home on it, with swimming pool and is already listed for sale for $885,000.
We are in the midst of a rather dramatic upturn in the market at the moment, both north and south of the highway, as buyers rush to purchase before the summer season and locking in favorable interest rates as they continue to rise.
We have talked frequently in this space about the breakneck pace of land sales south of the highway throughout 2010. But since the recession, little or no land north of the highway has sold. This week, there are four land transfers north of the highway in Southampton, including this one.
One week’s transfers don’t make a trend, but it will be interesting to see if more land begins to sell north of the highway in the coming year, particularly to builders. In other U.S. markets, the initial post-recession thinking was that builders would be out of work for years, as distressed inventory sold off. But what has happened in a number of markets is that builders have found that buyers still want new homes.
There are still plenty of homes for sale locally, north of the highway, and many of them are older, were built cheaply during the 1980s boom, and have not aged well. There are entry-level buyers in the Hamptons who want new homes. We may be witnessing the very beginning of an effort by builders to resupply them.
This 3,500-square-foot postmodern home has four bedrooms, five baths and an open floor plan with large living/dining/kitchen, separate den, and two-space attached garage. The .68-acre lot includes a vinyl pool, deck and stone driveway.
This house is located in the Barnes Landing neighborhood of Springs, which is near the Amagansett border along Gardiner’s Bay. Most homes in the community are within walking distance of the nearby bay beach and there are some nice community amenities such as a place to store boats and a staircase overlooking the water from a high bluff.
Most homes in Barnes Landing sell for less than $1 million. This house is one of the most expensive non-waterfront homes to sell in the community in recent years.
While the house is certainly not too ambitious for the neighborhood, its seller may have been a victim of market timing. She bought the lot in 2006 for $598,000. When the house was completed, at the height of the market in 2007, it was offered for sale for $2,000,000. It seems unlikely that this home and its outside improvements could have been constructed for less than $1,050,000, which would be necessary to make this sale profitable, not including transfer, title, tax, legal and other soft costs.
27east on Mar 7, 2011