Not So Fast: Adam Potter Still Pushing Sag Harbor Proposal

Adam Potter’s affordable housing plan for Sag Harbor is becoming the living embodiment of: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

The developer is still trying to get a project off the ground on Bridge Street, 27East reported.

Potter’s initial proposal included five parcels, three of which were part of the village’s historic district. But doing anything with those structures would involve the Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review. Potter listed the three properties two weeks ago individually for a combined $8.7 million.

Potter now proposes a development that unfurls over only two parcels, 7 and 11 Bridge Street. The 61,000-square-foot, three-story building would include 7,900 square feet of commercial space — not for retail use — on the first floor and 44 apartment units above; 14 of those units would be designated affordable.

The proposal also includes 44 parking spaces in a ground-floor garage.

The latest proposal also eliminates a commercial space that would have spanned more than 10,000 square feet. Potter may have needed a variance for that space, another uphill battle for him.

Potter told the publication that if people don’t like his latest proposal, “it’s really because they don’t want affordable housing.”

Sag Harbor residents have shown this to be true.

Two years ago, Potter and his partners proposed a $70 million, three-story project, which included 33,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor and 79 apartments, all affordable. The community pushed back and Potter’s partners petered out.

Last summer, Potter tried again, this time with a proposed 39 apartments — 19 affordable — and 10,700 square feet of commercial space and a community center next door, which was subsequently dropped. The latest idea features a few more units, but fewer affordable ones.

— Holden Walter-Warner