North Fork investor eyes $23 million for 88-acre Cutchogue spread

A rare piece of Cutchogue acreage is hitting the market at a price aimed at capturing the North Fork’s rapidly rising luxury curve.

Judi Desiderio, a veteran East End real estate agent and investor, is preparing to put an 88-acre property running from Oregon Road to the Long Island Sound on the market for $23 million, Newsday reported. She positions the approved subdivision for buyers seeking large estates, farmland or both.

Desiderio told the outlet that she is soliciting offers before deciding whether to cash out for the homes or build them herself after a seven-and-a-half-year approval process. The plan divides the land into eight residential lots and more than 60 hectares of protected agricultural land.

Three of the lots are 5-acre waterfront lots, four are 2.5-acre lots with water access and one is a 2-acre lot with a barn. The farmland has already been discussed: DeLea Sod Farm leases the eastern acreage and Wolffer Estate Vineyard farms the western side.

City officials say Desiderio’s low density fits with their long-range map of concentrating housing in downtown nodes and keeping farmland intact. Citizen groups echoed that position, positioning the preserved acreage as a buffer against sprawl and, in the case of Cutchogue, against light pollution.

The pitch is coming as the North Fork luxury market continues its climb.

According to data from appraiser Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman, median home prices rose by $1 million earlier this year, more than doubling since 2015. Desiderio argued that East Hampton’s waterfront properties would trade for triple the price, indicating more wiggle room for high-end buyers who have increasingly migrated north from the South Fork.

The demand seems to support this view. A 7,500-square-foot Cutchogue Bay home achieved a record $11.2 million sale last month, cementing the area’s shift from farmland to estate territory.

Desiderio said all the homes in her subdivision would likely start around 4,500 square feet.

Still, the price trajectory has fueled local tension about affordability. More than half of North Fork homes now sell for at least $1 million, displacing year-round workers and increasing calls for subsidized housing. Southold Town has relied on a 0.5 percent land transfer tax to build its community housing fund and plans more incentives to maintain affordability.

— Holden Walter Warner

Read more

Why Thomas Juul-Hansen thinks he can build the most expensive house on the North Fork

Bayfront Cutchogue lot sets North Fork record

Soloviev’s North Fork plan sparks local resistance