A $56 million transaction was finalized this week for the Town of East Hampton’s purchase of 30 acres along Wainscott Pond, the town’s largest acquisition using Community Preservation Fund (CPF) money.
The purchase of 66 Wainscott Main Street is also the second-biggest-known, non-commercial deal on the East End of 2024.
“These types of acquisitions are important to the preservation of the beautiful landscapes that make the Hamptons the iconic destination that it is,” says Cody Vichinsky, founding partner at Bespoke, the luxury real estate firm based in Water Mill, which handled the off-market deal. “We are grateful to be able to facilitate transactions like this ensuring that these landscapes are preserved in perpetuity for future generations to enjoy.”
Though the property, which includes the 1904 Louisa Edwards Osborn House and a two-story barn built in 1915, is considered the Osborn family property, billionaire businessman Ronald Lauder, an heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics company, was the seller. He bought the land from the Osborns in 2021 for $66 million reportedly intending to prevent development, as he owns neighboring parcels.
The property encompasses roughly one-third of the pond’s shoreline and would allow for public access and enable further water quality monitoring through the town’s CPF Water Quality Improvement program, town officials have said.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation identified Wainscott Pod as an impaired water body under its Priority Waterbodies List. The pond has experienced frequent harmful algal blooms, posing serious threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health, according to a press release from the town.
The town board approved the purchase in late October.
This is the second deal like this that Bespoke brokered this year. The firm also represented the Topping family in the preservation of 27 acres of Bridgehampton farmland earlier this year, purchased partially by Southampton Town’s Community Preservation money for $48 million.
In a public-private partnership, the nonprofit Peconic Land Trust structured a deal to purchase the fee title on three parcels, located at 181 and 305 Halsey Lane, for a total of $48 million and to partner with the town to simultaneously buy the enhanced development right for $30 million. Meanwhile, another $18 million funded the acquisition with private donations, mainly from neighbors who did not want to see the land developed and the viewshed lost.
That deal closed in April 2024, about a year after it first went on the market for $69.995 million, making it the most expensive piece of vacant property on the South Fork.
Email tvecsey@danspapers.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Behind The Hedges on X and Instagram.
