Letters

As most of us know, there is a shadow pool of capital — let’s call it “Mr. Big” — who is on the prowl and uses several disguises. Mr. Big has already bought property for a new theater and has talked to owners of most commercial property on Main Street about buying them out. When the smoke clears, the shopping experience in Sag Harbor will be “upgraded,” but the soul of the village might be lost.

To entice a new group of Manhattan-style merchants will require a series of enhancements to the new shopping environment. There’s plenty. For example, there’s the new library, a renovated movie theater, a new park, a new Long Wharf, and a historic church converted into an artists’ retreat.

It’s also easy to buy real estate assets on the cheap when you’re the only bidder in town. But a new competitive bidder might emerge. Let’s call it the Trust for Sag Harbor, a nonprofit entity.

The mission of the trust would be to preserve Main Street as it is now and buy out the few merchants who own their stores and really want to retire. Any property sold to the trust would become an asset and generate long-term rental income.

Sellers would get a good price, perhaps better than what’s being offered by Mr. Big. More importantly, they will feel good about themselves. And they will take pride in helping to preserve the village character for generations to come.

How much money would the Trust for Sag Harbor need? Let’s start with $50 million. That’s enough to buy 10 Main Street stores for $2.5 million each, and a few more at higher price. The $50 million would be borrowed via a rough equivalent of municipal bonds, and repayment would be due at their maturity date — I’d suggest, in 2121, a century from now.

In fact, these “century bonds” have been issued by such companies as Disney and Coca-Cola, and by prestigious universities such as Georgetown, MIT and Penn. Simply stated, Sag Harbor would not make any repayment on the principal for 100 years.

What about the interest rate? Well, rates are at historic lows, so you could probably borrow at about 1 percent.

Actually the Trust for Sag Harbor could be flush with cash before long. Start with the rental income. Surprise: The trust pays no income tax since it’s a nonprofit. And what about property taxes? Surprise again — the trust pays, once again, no property taxes, since it’s a nonprofit.

Of course, there are always devils in the details, but it’s not hard to see some compelling building blocks that could be assembled into an alternative bidder — and alternative to Mr. Big.

Duncan Darrow, Esq.

Sag Harbor