Hamptons condo development brings low(er) cost homes

A new wave of condo development is bringing the price of a home in the Hamptons more down to earth, if ever so slightly.

The complexes, which include the 15-unit Harbor’s Edge development in Sag Harbor, 69-residence Bishops Pond in Southampton Village and Sag Harbor’s converted Bulova watch factory, now dubbed Watchcase, represent a dramatic departure from the standard residential projects dotting the area. These homes will also offer up shared amenities such as a pool and gym.

“The Hamptons is known for all of its multi-, multi-million-dollar, record-breaking $100 million sales,” Douglas Elliman broker John Gomes told the New York Daily News. “These people are rich, but they’re not $100 million rich.”

Most buyers in these new condo projects are either first-time Hamptons homebuyers seeking low-maintenance living at reasonable prices or baby boomers who have had enough of the work involved in maintaining a single-family home on its own lot of land.

Such projects are also unusual because Hamptons municipalities are reluctant to approve such mass condo developments in the first place, fearing the disruption of quaint towns dotted with bungalows and shingled homes.

“There’s a general perception that these condo communities are dense and representative of suburbia, so it’s hard to get this type of project approved,” Steven Dubb of the Beechwood Organization, which is developing Bishop’s Pond, told the Daily News. “But if you do, it’s likely to be a home run.” [NYDN] — Julie Strickland