Buying Hamptons real estate has come to symbolize more than a monetary investment. It is an investment into a culture, a state of mind, and a lifestyle that has taken on a life all its own.

By Diane Strecker

Each charming village, shoreline, or esteemed estate area throughout the East End embodies its very own genre. These towns have come to develop individual subcultures that define and personify them. Whether it be Hamptons chic, Montauk cool, or Shelter Island seclusion, everyone seems to want a piece of the East End. Just an hour’s commute from the financial hub of the world, some of the most valuable, distinctive, and sought-after properties anywhere are nestled in this virtual paradise. The unique compilation of the landscape, diverse bodies of water, and outlying islands creates an atmosphere now recognized as the epitome of town and country. A perfect blend of geography and social sophistication conjures an extraordinary lucrative combination, translating to what realtors call the ultimate location, location, location!

Southampton Project

It’s a Friday evening and the start of the summer season in the Hamptons. The traffic on the only route east is literally parked as the weekly exodus from the city to the Hamptons commences. Frustrated drivers can hear the familiar thump, thump, thump in the distance, as private aircrafts whisk the exceptionally affluent high over the stopped cars, descending to the heliports on Meadow Lane in Southampton.

The exclusive estate area in Southampton is one of the most desirous on the East End; the scarcity of land on its oceanfront has driven values to an all-time high. In 2006, a 4-acre plot sold for $20 million, setting a precedent for the remaining waterfront parcels and making it evident that buyers are willing to pay whatever it takes to acquire this prominent address.

Finding, listing, and selling an 8-acre parcel of land with four hundred feet of ocean frontage on Southampton’s prestigious Meadow Lane is no small task amidst this fierce market, but according to Kevin Sneddon, CEO of Project Real Estate, they have done just that. The broker confirmed that another of their Meadow Lane oceanfront estate parcels in Southampton has recently gone to contract. The 7.5-acre property, positioned directly on the brink of the Atlantic and backing up to Shinnecock Bay, has spectacular views of both. Although the sale price of the $39.75 million listing has not yet been disclosed, it will reportedly transfer very near the asking price. Sneddon shared that the deal on this extraordinary piece, located in the estate section, was made just two months after locating and securing the listing. Project Real Estate speculates that this has the possibility of being the highest grossing sale of a single parcel during 2007.

Last season, this same brokerage came out of the gates running, selling 900 Meadow Lane, an oceanfront estate in Southampton, for $26.5 million in January of 2006. Project Real Estate also has a 5-acre estate on the Southampton oceanfront that is available for $31 million.