Developer Plans 30 Green Homes in North Fork

The North Fork’s tight housing market is about to receive an influx of green homes.

Architect Marc Weissbach’s Baiting Hollow Development Group plans to build 30 homes on a parcel next to Baiting Hollow Golf Club in the East End hamlet, Newsday reported. Construction on the homes is expected to begin in the coming weeks.

Powered by electricity including from solar panels, the homes are designed to net zero carbon emissions following construction, meaning they will produce as much energy as they use, Weissbach told the publication. Buyers will also have the option to include rainwater retention ponds, a wind energy system and heat pumps.

The homes themselves will range from three- to six-bedroom layouts on plots stretching from a half-acre to an acre. The homes, which will be adjacent to the golf club’s clubhouse, will be 2,500 to 3,500 square feet, but some could be larger depending on the buyer’s preference.

Prices will start at $1.75 million — which, unfortunately for those who desire to hit the links, does not include a club membership.

“We expect to see high demand, but we won’t know until we launch the project,” Weissbach said, citing factors such as the new construction and energy efficiency.

At a time of extremely low housing inventory in the North Fork, adding just a few dozen new homes could have a significant effect on supply. Only 89 homes were listed for sale in the area at the end of the first quarter, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel, a mere 2.3 months’ worth of inventory and the second-lowest amount ever recorded.

Another developer previously attempted to build 30 homes on the same plot of land in 2006, but was tripped up by the financial crisis, forcing the site into foreclosure, according to Newsday. Weissbach’s development entity bought the land from Suffolk County in a foreclosure sale last year for $3.5 million.

Weissbach, who is also CEO of Vidaris, an architectural consulting firm that specializes in energy-efficient building exteriors, will begin listing lots for sale in about a month as construction begins. Some homes are expected to be finished in the first quarter of next year. JCL Contracting is the general contractor on the project.