Foot-wide Napeague Parcel Hits $120,000 in Bidding War
Suffolk County’s plan to unload a 1-foot-wide strip of land in Napeague for $10 turned out have a much more lucrative outcome after two neighbors got into an intense bidding war, according to Newsday.
It seems the county woefully underestimated the value of Hamptons real estate—even if the property is so narrow you’d have to shuffle sideways and suck in your gut to traverse it.
Newsday reports that the 1,885-foot-long parcel that runs from Montauk Highway to the Atlantic Ocean was seized 10 years ago for nonpayment of taxes, and the county recently sought to sell it for a nominal price to one of six landowners with adjoining properties, east of Mitchell Dunes Lane. Neighbors Marc Helie and Kyle N. Cruz, who are both wealthy investment managers, showed an interest, the report states. They met at a county office in Hauppauge for a live, two-man auction, and a minimum bid of $1,500 quickly escalated to $120,000, with Helie making the winning bid.
For the sale to be finalized, the County Legislature must vote to give the deal the green light, according to the report.
If the deal goes through as expected, Helie will own property to the east, west and south of Cruz’s land, effectively boxing Cruz out from ocean access.