Sag Harbor Community Housing Trust In Contract To Purchase Property In Wainscott

The Sag Harbor Community Housing Trust has entered into contract to purchase the property at 782 Route 114, just outside of Sag Harbor in Wainscott, which is currently a complex of rental cottages. The purchase price is $1.25 million.

The 2-acre parcel, collectively known as The Cottages, consists of nine small buildings, many of which are two-room residential cottages available for short-term rental. According to a press release, the trust is considering different ways of improving and redeveloping the site for workforce housing.

According to the Corcoran listing for the property, the short-term nature of the leases at the complex allows for renovations, and the cottages can be expanded if needed. All permits are in place for expansion of the property. Licensed associate real estate brokers Christina Matos and Elise Douglas of the Corcoran Group are currently working with the Sag Harbor Community Housing Trust and its attorneys to close the contract, which is anticipated to happen this fall. The present owners are Vincent and George Aliperti of Douglaston, according to the East Hampton Town Assessors Office.

Housing trust president and founder Greg Ferraris said it was too early to say if the trust planned to raze the cottages and put new apartments in place, or keep the standalone buildings.

“We’re exploring all options,” he said. “It’s the only property like it in the area. It could be anything.”

Mr. Ferraris said the trust was quick to make a move to purchase because there is a dire need for affordable housing in the Sag Harbor School District. A needs assessment recently conducted by the district, Mr. Ferraris said, showed that it has attracted many families to the area just so that children can attend the local schools.

“What that does is, it takes up the inventory of existing housing in the district,” Mr. Ferraris said. “So it’s a Catch-22.”

The trust is able to purchase the property with a portion of a $2.5-million contribution to affordable housing from Cape Advisors, the developer behind the Watchcase Factory redevelopment project in Sag Harbor, and financing from Bridgehampton National Bank. The property is listed with Corcoran at $1.275 million, with the land itself is valued at around $800,000 and $2,233 paid in taxes each year, according to the Assessors Office.

The Sag Harbor Community Housing Trust is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization independent of the village government. It was established in 2008 as way to create affordable workforce housing in the Sag Harbor School District as the village proceeded with plans for the Watchcase condominiums. This property would be the first purchase the trust has made for that purpose.