Tony Southampton town votes to buy $25.5M beachfront mansion, bulldoze it, then turn into a public parking lot on the shore

They’ll pave this palace — and put up a parking lot.

A tony Long Island town just got approval to hit the gas on its plan to bulldoze a $26 million mansion on a billionaire-lined block and turn it into a public beach parking lot.

The Southampton Town Board on Tuesday unanimously green lit the deal to purchase the three-story, 11-bedroom castle on Meadow Lane from owner Frances Katz.

“While it is certainly an expensive acquisition it is rare that the town has the opportunity to acquire and preserve land that is oceanfront and will not only provide a wonderful recreational opportunity for our town residents but also assists with the long term coastal resiliency goals  of the Town, County, State and Federal Government,” said Southampton town attorney Jim Burke.

Southampton officials approved the purchase of a nearly $26 million three-story, 11-bedroom, beachfront mansion. Courtesy of Saunders & Associates

The unanimous approval from the town board now allows Town Supervisor Maria Moore to sign off on the contract with Katz to finalize the purchase. 

The deal will also provide the nearby marine dunes and habitats with environmental protections that weren’t previously in place when the 2-acre property was private, town officials said. 

“This property is unique because it contains maritime dunes, maritime beaches and will preserve valuable shoreline along the Atlantic Ocean,” Jacqueline Fenlon, Southampton’s Community Preservation Fund manager, said at the town’s Jan. 13 board meeting.

“[It] will further provide public access to the beach and the Atlantic Ocean, thereby providing active and passive recreational opportunities for town residents,” she said.

Southampton’s funding for the deal comes from the tony town’s Community Preservation Fund — a war chest fueled by a 2% real estate transfer tax meant to bankroll land preservation, water quality projects and parkland buys.

The home will be bulldozed and turned into a parking lot for the pubic beach. Courtesy of Saunders & Associates

The purchase of the home would rank as Southampton’s second-largest CPF acquisition ever — and the most expensive per acre, town records show.

Plans to bulldoze the mansion and turn the ultra-exclusive oceanfront lot into a parking area are still months away, according to town officials. 

Property records peg the estate’s “full value” at $27.5 million, with Fenlon saying two independent appraisals backed the tentative sale price — which would mean the town actually got a deal on the exuberant home. 

Meadow Lane sits in one of the priciest stretches of the Hamptons — a billionaire’s row that ends at ritzy Southampton Village’s public heliport, a favorite touchdown spot for Manhattan’s helicopter-hopping elite.

Katz, was excited to see what once his home help save the environment and provide fun to visitors, said his attorney Carl Benincasa. 

“Speaking for the seller and her family — I can say this parcel was incredibly important to them as a family and they are very excited to see the future of this parcel as being one used and enjoyed by the public both for conservation and for recreation,” Benincasa said.