A married couple with decades of ties to the North Fork scooped up nearly 40 acres of undeveloped Cutchogue land on for $9.8 million — with plans to preserve the Oregon Road property’s agricultural heritage.

The Long Island natives bought four parcels along Oregon Road on the western side of an 88-acre conservation subdivision that stretches to Long Island Sound.

The deal, finalized Aug. 10, includes a roughly 30-acre parcel with 23 acres of vines leased by Wölffer Estate Vineyard, which will continue leasing them, along with two 2.5-acre lots and a roughly 5-acre waterfront parcel with about 275 feet of beachfront.

The couple stressed they have no intention of building on the property.

“We intend to maintain it in its current state. … No plans for development or house building or anything of that nature,” said Michael, who asked that his and his wife Robin’s last names not be published in an interview with The Suffolk Times on Monday. “We just want to keep it as natural as possible.”

That approach stands in contrast to some other recent North Fork land deals. Most notably, billionaire Stefan Soloviev has continued expanding his holdings while pursuing development plans on some properties, including a proposed subdivision farther west along Oregon Road in Southold, as The Suffolk Times previously reported.

“There’s other forces at work that may be buying land on the North Fork for developmental purposes and, maybe, taking it out of its original agricultural destiny,” said Michael, who did not mention Soloviev by name but described the couple’s purchase as an attempt to push back against development pressure.

“Even though this may be a small, futile gesture, we’re trying to be the David against the Goliath and see if we can set an example for others to say, ‘OK, let’s see what we can do to stop this,’ turn the tide, and maybe preserve some of this land.”

Real estate prices have continued to rise on the North Fork. The average Southold Town home price reached about $1.2 million earlier this year. 

Michael and Robin, who split their time between the Long Island and New Jersey, said they purchased the property through a family trust — jokingly named “What Am I, a Farmer?” after a line from “30 Rock” — to keep it in its current agricultural state for their children and grandchildren.

“We’re going to hope that the legacy of keeping at least this piece of property in the condition it should be in perpetuity remains long beyond our time out there on the North Fork.”

The four parcels are part of an 88-acre subdivision consisting of eight large residential lots and roughly 60 acres of farmland that must remain preserved. DeLea Sod Farm leases farmland on the unsold eastern half of the property.

The property is owned by longtime real estate broker Judi Desiderio through Oregon Close LLC, which listed the entire subdivision for $23 million. The William Raveis agent spent more than seven years securing final approval for the conservation subdivision.

“The water there is beautiful, and the sunsets are amazing,” Ms. Desiderio said. “They wanted to control everything on the west side, but to be able to capture the vines, which we own and Wolffer maintains, I think that they did a very wise investment.”

She said navigating the town and other agencies during the approval process eventually became too burdensome, prompting her to put the property on the market. She initially planned to develop the property herself but ultimately pursued a conservation subdivision to reduce the density of development.

Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski called the sale “a great example of our conservation subdivision at work.”

Kristy Nadell, the property’s selling agent, said the buyers’ intentions were a major part of the deal.

“These buyers are very passionate about maintaining the spirit and the tradition of the North Fork, and a big part of that is conservation,” Ms. Nadell said. “They really have a vested interest in protecting the area from overdevelopment.”

The post Roughly 40 acres of Oregon Road land in Cutchogue sells for $10M, with plans to preserve it appeared first on The Suffolk Times.

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