Local red tape — and Alec Baldwin — can’t curtail East End development
Getting a development out of the ground on the East End is not an easy feat with new zoning restrictions taking hold and local opposition heating up. But despite those obstacles — and criticism from the likes of the “30 Rock” actor — a slew of new projects have shovels in the ground or are pushing for approval. In East Quogue, for instance, the Arizona-based developer Discovery Land Company is planning a 118-unit housing development and golf course that could break ground as early as 2017, if approved. For his part, Baldwin recorded a public service announcement calling the project, dubbed the Hills at Southampton, the “biggest and baddest development on Long Island.” [TRD]
Hamptons homebuilder Joe Farrell is a ‘Belieber’
Justin Bieber was reportedly willing to write a very sizeable check to stay in the famed Sandcastle mansion in the Hamptons. But when the Bridgehampton home — which comes with a bowling alley, movie theater and basketball court, among other over-the-top amenities — was occupied, the pop singer got a pretty sweet consolation prize: Sandcastle owner and Hamptons builder Joe Farrell offered him another one of his East End homes for free. The freebie property typically rents for $80,000 a week. Still, the real winner may have been Farrell’s 12-year-old daughter. Bieber treated the father and daughter to a private show and a dinner backstage at one of his concerts. [LLNYC]
Luxury prices head south in the North Fork
Long Island’s North Fork has always been less glitzy than its neighbor to the south. But after a banner 2015, the less-posh fork has lost some steam in 2016. The average sales price of luxury homes — those in the top 10 percent of sales — fell to $1.8 million there in the first quarter of 2016, a nearly 23 percent decline year over year. And unlike the astronomical deals on the South Fork, the most expensive North Fork deal for the 12-month period ending in April was only for $5.9 million. Still, according to Donielle Cardinale, a broker with Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Reality, buyers with “quiet money” are growing more drawn to the North Fork. [TRD]
Is Matt Lauer the most active Hamptons home flipper?
The NBC anchor might consider adding a new title to his resume: Hamptons house flipper. In the last four weeks, Lauer has been in the news for his Hamptons property transactions a full four times. Shortly after purchasing Richard Gere’s massive Strongheart estate in North Haven, he listed his modest 1,800-square-foot residence in the Southampton community of North Sea for $3.9 million. Then last week Lauer listed yet another Hamptons property — a 25-acre compound with an 8,000-square-foot main house — for $18 million. Now the North Sea cottage is in contract — just two weeks after hitting the market. [Curbed]
Inside Long Island’s largest housing development firm
Beechwood Organization [TRData] CEO Michael Dubb got the business bug pushing a lawnmower straight out of high school. Now, he and his 30-year-old son are the biggest housing developers on Long Island. In a sit-down interview with TRD, the elder Dubb talked about his affinity for construction, his roots in NYC affordable housing, his horseracing hobby (he owns 80 thoroughbreds and stables in New York) — and, of course, his latest foray into the East End condo world. [TRD]
Sbarro pizza heir lists Southampton home for $32M
Selling pizza (even if it’s mall pizza) has paid off. Anthony Sbarro, son of the founders of the Sbarro pizza empire, has listed a brand new, custom-built and furnished 14,000-square-foot mansion for $32 million. The nine-bedroom house has a movie theater, gym, tennis court and a mirrored ballet studio. Sbarro told the Wall Street Journal that he commissioned the house about a year ago for himself, but opted to buy another Southampton property on the water. Should we assume the next round of pizza is on him? [WSJ]
Owner of trashed Bridgehampton home arrested for fraud
Talk about a twist. Omar Amanat — the co-owner of the Bridgehampton house who rented it out on Airbnb only to have it allegedly trashed during a charity bash — has been charged with conspiracy to defraud investors in the now-bankrupt tech startup Kit Digital. When news of the rowdy party first broke, host and hedge funder Brett Barna was very publicly fired from Moore Capital Management. But now Amanat, who was extradited from Colombia to the U.S. last week to face charges in the Kit Digital scam, appears to be the one in far greater trouble. [Page Six]
Montauk wind farm to be biggest in the country
Hamptons homeowners may soon be getting an energy boost — and not just from green juice shots so popular among the jet-setting crowd. The Long Island Power Authority is slated to approve plans for a 15-turbine, 90-megawatt wind farm just east of Montauk. “This is the first in New York, it’s the largest to date, but we’re looking at this and seeing a tremendous offshore wind resource that will be developed and it’s not the last,” Long Island Power Authority CEO Thomas Falcone told the Associated Press. The turbines will be located 30 miles offshore and will produce energy for about 50,000 homes in the Hamptons. [TRD]