Open space conservation, winterized housing for employees, a willing seller and generous assistance from a community bank were all factors in an out-of-the-ordinary purchase announced by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Friday.
The land bank bought a 14-acre property off Meetinghouse Way in Edgartown that will serve a dual purpose of conservation and providing housing for land bank staff.
The purchase price was $9.5 million. The sellers are Ellen and Edwin Harley.
The property is located where the ancient way Quenomica Path intersects with Meetinghouse Way. It marks the second purchase on the Quenomica peninsula by the land bank in the past six weeks.
In an announcement on its Facebook page, the land bank said the Martha’s Vineyard Bank played a key role in the purchase by providing a $7.5 million loan at a favorable rate.
“This was a felicitous purchase on so many levels,” land bank executive director James Lengyel told the Gazette by phone Friday.
He said the property includes several buildings including a house, guest house, cottage and bunk house — all of which will be used to house land bank staff. The barn will meet other land bank needs. And future plans also call for creating a central office for the land bank on the property.
“The land bank, like other Island employers, recognizes the need to be providing affordable housing for their own employees,” Mr. Lengyel said.
He said land bank superintendent Harrison Kisel had formerly worked for the Harleys, and when the property went on the market for sale, he flagged Mr. Lengyel about the opportunity.
Mr. Lengyel said there were numerous bidders, but in the end the Harleys decided to sell to the land bank for the asking price.
“They had a welter of bidders and chose the land bank,” he said.
Tom Wallace of Wallace and Co. Sotheby’s had the listing.
Formerly held by the MacKenty family, the property is known as Ashakomaksett Farm.
Speaking to the Gazette by phone Friday, Ellen Harley said she her husband were happy about the outcome.
“The farm means a lot to us . . . and we could have sold it for a substantially higher amount . . . we had two developer offers,” Ms. Harley said. “But we felt like we have an obligation to the community. And the land bank has done so much for the Island.”
Ms. Harley also wrote a letter to the land bank describing her family’s attachment to the property, where they raised horses, chickens and ducks and enjoyed the natural surroundings.
The property also abuts conservation land held by the Nature Conservancy, another factor in the purchase, Mr. Lengyel said. Plans call for creating a trailhead on the property and a connecting trail to the Quenomica property purchased in February, which fronts a cove in the Edgartown Great Pond. The two properties are not contiguous.
Mr. Lengyel said housing for land bank staff has long been a goal. And eventually the land bank plans to relocate its office to the new property and sell its building on upper Main street Edgartown.
“In the old days when people relied on printed copies [for real estate transactions] it was important for the land bank to be in the town center,” Mr. Lengyel said. “Now 80 per cent of all the transactions the land bank handles are online. Soon it will be 100 per cent.”
Martha’s Vineyard Bank president and CEO James Anthony said the bank was pleased to help.
“We’re just really happy to contribute to the vibrancy of the Island,” Mr. Anthony told the Gazette by phone. “What we do is serve. And we’re just happy to serve.”
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