Sagaponack waterfront estate sells for almost $48M

Johnson & Johnson’s James Burke with 35 Potato Road/543 Daniel’s Lane (Johnson & Johnson, Realtor)

Adjacent Sagaponack parcels, one with a waterfront mansion, have been snapped up by an undisclosed buyer for almost all of the $48 million being asked.

The sale took place in the “pre-marketing” phase of the listing, according to the Wall Street Journal, meaning it hadn’t even made it to market. The parcels are at 35 Potato Road and 543 Daniel’s Lane in the Hamptons town.

Behind the Hedges reported the properties sold for more than $46.5 million.

The four-acre oceanfront estate includes an oversized lot with two 1980s-era homes and an undeveloped, non-waterfront parcel directly across the street. The buyer has the right to build a 7,000-square-foot home on the wooded parcel with a pool and a tennis court.

The property was once owned by James Burke, who served as chairman and CEO of the company for 13 years beginning in the 1970s. He was also chairman of Partnership for a Drug-Free America prior to his death in 2012.

Compass’ Christopher Covert was the listing agent. Hedgerow Exclusive Properties represented the buyer.

It was the second high-priced home sale in Sagaponack in as many months. In March, the oceanfront mansion at 7 Fairfield Pond Lane sold to an undisclosed buyer for $50 million in an off-market deal, the second-priciest of the year in the Hamptons at that point. The 2012-built home totals 10,000 square feet and is situated on more than three acres.

The rapid sale of the former Burke estate was exceptionally fast for an eight-figure purchase but representative of buyers’ needs to move quickly in a tight housing market. Inventory in the area was down 42 percent year-over-year in the first quarter and 16 percent from the previous quarter, according to a Douglas Elliman report by Miller Samuel.

The low inventory has led to greater competition: One out of every four Hamptons homes sold in the first quarter involved a bidding war, the third straight quarter that threshold was reached. Meanwhile, the median sale price rose 7.7 percent year-over-year to $1.4 million.

[WSJ] — Holden Walter-Warner