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The Westhampton property that was once Coast Guard housing is on the auction block, again. KITTY MERRILL
After pushing off a long-scheduled auction of 14 acres of former U.S. Coast Guard property in Westhampton from August 21 to September 6, the auction has now been “suspended until further notice,” the General Services Administration said this week.
The auction had been rescheduled to this month to give the GSA and Town of Southampton time to hammer out a possible deal that would see the property transferred to the town via a public-private partnership with a Jericho-based workforce housing developer called Georgica Green Ventures. The town was banking on state and county support, too, to try to arrive at an agreeable price point for the property.
The GSA is asking $15 million for the property, according to State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. That asking price would, he said, “preclude town participation” in acquiring the tract.
Two weeks ago, the GSA said if it couldn’t come to agreeable terms with the town, the auction would proceed on September 6. At that time, GSA spokesman Paul Hughes said that the pause on the public sale “would provide an opportunity for the town to formalize their interest in acquiring the property.”
The auction was again rescheduled to October 10, according to the GSA website. But now the GSA says it’s not happening then, and that the “USCG is addressing additional due diligence in preparation for the divestiture of the property.”
The GSA provided no further detail on what that might mean insofar as the town’s gambit to acquire the property, part of a former USCG housing development located off Stewart Avenue in Westhampton.
Thiele said he was taking it as a positive sign that the auction had been pushed off indefinitely: “I don’t want to read too much into that, except to say that it’s better that they did than they didn’t [cancel the auction].”
Southampton Town Attorney James Burke said he wasn’t sure what the USCG meant by divestiture — “Does it mean they are trying to divest without an auction?” — and said town officials were reaching out to USCG to “see if they can give us an understanding of what this means.”
Burke said he would “take it as good news that they are at least considering their options” at the GSA and USCG.
Town officials received a briefing from the state Wednesday morning, September 6, regarding the site. Burke added that the state is “very, very interested in this — no question the state looks at this as a really good opportunity to provide housing for the area.“
Critically, Burke noted that the state has “committed that they would put up a lot of funds,” while also highlighting remediation issues that would need to be undertaken at the site, located within a core area of the Pine Barrens. Homes there were built without permits, and there’s also a possibility that World War II-era ordnance might have to be removed from the property.
Thiele said whatever plan that emerged, if any, would continue to be led by the town, and that state, local and federal leaders — up to U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand — had been urging the federal government that “this is a prime opportunity for moderate income housing.” While those urgings have yet to receive a formal response, Thiele said he was, again, encouraged by GSA’s suspension of the auction.
The town’s plan, as previously reported, was to dedicate half of the 52 housing units on the site as rental units; the other half would be put on the market and sold. The 14-acre site contains 24 two-family duplexes, two single-family units and an office-workshop-residence. There’s a playground and open space areas, too.
Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman confirmed this week that negotiations with the GSA had gotten hung up by the GSA’s asking price. Schneiderman previously said he had been engaged with federal and state elected officials, including U.S. Representative Nick LaLota, to try to leverage an outcome that could help the town ease its affordable housing crunch.
Opening bids for the now-suspended auction were to start at $5 million and increase by $100,000 increments.
The town made an offer on the property in 2020 that was rejected by the government. This time, it is aiming to provide grants to potential residents on a per-unit basis, via the Community Housing Fund.
That new fund levies a half-percent real estate transfer tax on home sales, with the express purpose of using the revenue to build or support affordable housing.
Local residents in the adjacent Hampton West residential community have bristled at any mention of affordable housing rising on the spot. The town says any possible development would be targeted at those of moderate means.
