Real estate investment firm Cape Advisors and the Deutsche Bank Commercial Real Estate Group announced the closing of a $60 million investment to fully fund the development and rehabilitation of their long-stalled condo project in Sag Harbor, N.Y., today.

The developers of the planned $100 million, 65-unit luxury apartment building at the old Bulova Watchcase Factory at Church and Division streets, will now be able to move ahead.

“We are extremely pleased that in these difficult economic times we were able to partner with Deutsche Bank in moving forward with this exciting project,” said Craig Wood, co-managing partner of Cape Advisors. “This fall, over 30 years after the Bulova Watchcase Factory closed, we will begin construction to restore this historic building and fully integrate it into the fabric of the Sag Harbor community.” – Katherine Clarke [more]

Cape Advisors could be able to secure funding for its condominium project at the Bulova Watchcase Factory in Sag Harbor within the next two weeks, the Sag Harbor Express reported.

In addition, the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board has allowed changes to the 2008 plan for the project that was already approved.

The changes include an amendment Cape Advisors’ payment schedule of over $2.5 million to the Sag Harbor Community Housing Trust for the provision of on-site affordable housing. Craig Wood, founder of Cape Advisors, had requested that his firm be able to make payments to the trust in equal increments following the closing sale of each of the 65 units within the condo project. [more]

A Sag Harbor luxury condominium project approved after two years of deliberation in 2008, but then subject to lawsuits over the approval and the global recession, is showing signs of life, the Sag Harbor Express reported.

Cape Advisors, the developers of a planned $100 million, 65-unit luxury apartment building at the old Bulova Watchcase Factory at Church and Division streets, along with seven adjacent townhouses that contain 16 units total, a pool, a recreation center and underground parking, met with the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board this week to push the project forward.
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IGA Market, one of the oldest business on Sag Harbor’s Main street, might be forced out because of a family dispute over rent, the Sag Harbor Express reported. Husband and wife Michael and Jennifer Schiavoni, the owners of the supermarket, have reportedly received a notice from the building’s owner that they need to leave if they do not agree to a rent increase. But the building’s owner’s are Michael’s mother, Victoria Schiavoni and his aunt, Doris Schiavoni. Currently, Michael and Jennifer pay about $10,800 a month in rent to Schiavoni Family, LLC, for a total of about $129,600 a year. [more]

While pond-adjacent living in Sag Harbor is already a pastoral dream, the green home in this video from the Wall Street Journal takes environmentally sound living to the next step. Designed by husband-and-wife team Peter Sabbeth and Melissa Green, the home features straw-and-hay insulation and an ethanol — rather than wood-burning — fireplace.

Former Model and current real estate investor Christie Brinkley has put
her 18th century five-bedroom beachfront house in Sag Harbor on the
market for $15.75 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The
5,500-square-foot house sits on a 4.5-acre lot and features massive
white columns, four fireplaces, and 327 feet of beachfront with views
of the harbor and surrounding bay. The property — whose address is
undisclosed — is one of several homes that Brinkley owns in the
Hamptons. Brinkley, 56, has been a serious investor in Hamptons real
estate, picking up homes and lots on the East End that she has then put
back on the market. Property records show that she paid $7.15 million
for the Sag Harbor house in 2004 through the Sunset trust. In 2007, she
also bought a second house she still owns across the street in North
Haven for $9.9 million, under the name Sunset Trust #2. She has also
had a 12-bedroom house in Bridgehampton,
known as Tower Hill because of its 50-foot observation tower, listed in
the past. Brinkley also bought a beachfront house in Water Mill in
2005, which she has periodically had on the market, brokers told the
Journal. [WSJ]

[more]

American Hotel owner Ted Conklin has officially put his two Sag Harbor
homes on the market for about $10 million, according to the New York
Post. Conklin’s historic Sag Harbor hotel — once frequented by Billy
Joel — is expected to go on the market next, for no less than $25
million. Sources told the Post that Conklin has decamped to East
Hampton and Palm Beach, where his new wife, Carol Simmons, lives.
Conklin’s ex-wife, broker Tara Newman of Saunders Associates, who holds
the highest sale record for Sag Harbor, called the house offerings a
“unique opportunity.” [Post]

[more]

American Hotel owner Ted Conklin has officially put his two Sag Harbor
homes on the market for about $10 million, according to the New York
Post. Conklin’s historic Sag Harbor hotel — once frequented by Billy
Joel — is expected to go on the market next, for no less than $25
million. Sources told the Post that Conklin has decamped to East
Hampton and Palm Beach, where his new wife, Carol Simmons, lives.
Conklin’s ex-wife, broker Tara Newman of Saunders Associates, who holds
the highest sale record for Sag Harbor, called the house offerings a
“unique opportunity.” [Post]

[more]

Images from the Sag Harbor home and Guillermo Vilas

An approximately 360-year-old home owned by retired tennis star Guillermo Vilas in Sag Harbor has hit the market for $995,000. The English-style, two-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-story cottage sits on .17 acres in Sag Harbor’s historic district, according to Beth Troy, an agent with Town & Country Real Estate, who has the listing. The property also includes gardens and a detached studio garage.

Troy would not disclose whether Vilas currently lives there or why he’s selling the home. [more]

25 Rawson Road

From the March issue: Every year, Hamptons broker Jane Gill gets a call from the same Wall Street trader, looking for a summer rental with a fenced-in yard, an acre of property and a garage for his Ferrari. He always calls at the last minute, usually around Memorial Day, hoping to get a good deal: a $200,000 property for about $75,000.

“He works with every broker,” said Gill, a vice president at Saunders & Associates in Bridgehampton. “Last year, I showed him a few things, and then I lost contact with him. I assume he found something.”

He may not find it so easy this year, however. Brokers say that while last year many renters waited until the eleventh hour, they have been receiving calls from interested renters over the last month, and some of the most exclusive properties have already been picked up.  [more]