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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/18\/realestate\/southampton-mansion-tear-down-parking-lot.html?ae=oa&emc=edit_nn_20260918&nl=the-morning&segment_id=226681",
    "parsed_content": "The $25 Million Plan to Raze a Beach House and Put Up a Parking LotSouthampton is buying a beachfront mansion and tearing it down to improve beach access. And it says it isn\u2019t stopping with just one house.Credit...Lindsay Morris for The New York TimesThe $25 Million Plan to Raze a Beach House and Put Up a Parking LotSouthampton is buying a beachfront mansion and tearing it down to improve beach access. And it says it isn\u2019t stopping with just one house.Credit...Lindsay Morris for The New York TimesSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTListen \u00b7 6:13 min Share full articleBy Gerry SmithSept. 18, 2026Bill Pell stood outside the vacant oceanfront mansion, its swimming pool green with algae, and explained why he wanted his town to spend more than $25 million just to tear it down.The 11-bedroom home sits in Southampton, N.Y., along one of the country\u2019s most opulent stretches of shoreline, a two-lane road nicknamed \u201cBillionaires Row.\u201d On one side are majestic manors, kept private by hedges and gates, with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. On the other side are \u201cNo Parking\u201d signs reminding drivers that beach access is limited.Mr. Pell, a town councilman, set in motion a gutsy plan: Buy the property at 1950 Meadow Lane and turn it into a parking lot with about 40 spaces. The town approved the purchase earlier this year.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cPeople can\u2019t get to the beach because you can\u2019t park,\u201d Mr. Pell said during a recent morning visit to the mansion. \u201cThis is about giving back to the local people.\u201dImageThe beach house at 1950 Meadow Lane will soon become a parking lot.Credit...Lindsay Morris for The New York TimesThe move has been celebrated by locals who want beach access and by environmental groups that want to protect the shoreline. But it has also irked some residents of the affluent town, including a neighbor who worries about a rise in traffic.\u201cI\u2019m out here to enjoy the peace and quiet,\u201d said Robert Adler, a retired businessman who bought a property on Meadow Lane more than 40 years ago. \u201cNot to have public beaches all over the place.\u201dThough the Southampton stretch isn\u2019t privately owned, the town\u2019s plan is part of an effort across the country to increase public beach access. In Malibu, Calif., the billionaire owner of the Milwaukee Brewers settled a lawsuit this month by donating a $2 million stretch of sand for public use. On Florida\u2019s panhandle, Walton County officials bought a $12 million property to create public beach access. In North Carolina, the National Park Service bought oceanfront homes that were at risk of collapsing into the sea.But such moves are rare because local governments often can\u2019t afford to buy expensive homes and lose their property tax revenue, said Andrew Kahrl, a professor at the University of Virginia who has studied and written about the history of beach access. Beachfront homeowners also tend to be wealthy, vocal and well connected, ensuring that local officials listen to them, he said.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cIt\u2019s hard to find a local government with the will and the means to overcome that,\u201d Mr. Kahrl said.Southampton officials bought the Meadow Lane property using a fund that collects a 2 percent tax on property sales. The money is typically used to buy farmland, wetlands and forests to keep as open space. Mr. Pell said the town would likely seek to buy other oceanfront homes and demolish them to create parking for public beach access.ImageA derelict swimming pool at the empty mansion that awaits demolition.Credit...Lindsay Morris for The New York TimesThe home set for demolition was owned by Frances Katz, the widow of a prominent New York lawyer, George Katz, who died in 1989. The real estate listing boasted of a wraparound deck, a private boardwalk and an \u201cexpansive breakfast area that allows the salty breeze to mingle with your morning coffee.\u201d\u201cI\u2019m happy for the town and for their people,\u201d Ms. Katz said when reached by phone, adding that \u201cit was a very sensitive issue in the community\u201d and that \u201cpeople have different opinions.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMs. Katz\u2019s lawyer, Carl Benincasa, said the family sold the house to the town \u201cbecause they liked the idea that this was going to the community and they\u2019d still be able to visit the site.\u201dThe family had previously been part of a series of lawsuits fighting beach access dating to the 1980s. While residents can\u2019t park near the mansion, some can park four-wheel-drive vehicles on a segment of the sand. The lawsuits argued that the vehicles spoiled the view.At a public hearing in January, several people expressed support for the sale. Donna Bennett, a longtime resident, told the council that increasing beach access was \u201cthe best thing you\u2019ve done for the locals in this community that I can remember.\u201dImageThe beach along Meadow Lane has been a source of tension in the community.Credit...Lindsay Morris for The New York TimesTearing down the property will also maintain a system of sand dunes that protects the area from rising sea levels and storms, town officials say. Southampton\u2019s plan is an example of how coastal communities should rethink development amid climate change, said Bob DeLuca, president of Group for the East End, a local conservation organization.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cThese very expensive homes are part of the landscape, but people are looking a little further down the line and thinking, \u2018OK, how long is this really viable?\u2019\u201d he said.Still, it is difficult to argue that the Meadow Lane sale will benefit the masses, given the steep prices for beach parking. A seasonal beach parking permit costs as much as $60 for town residents and as much as $525 for nonresidents.\u201cIf a town has a public beach, but only the people who live in that town can use it, is it really a public beach?\u201d Mr. Kahrl said.ImageBill Pell, a Southampton councilman, wants to increase public access to the beach along \u201cBillionaire\u2019s Row.\u201dCredit...Lindsay Morris for The New York TimesOn a recent morning before Labor Day, the beach was mostly empty except for a few pickup trucks and a handful of surfers. The chorus of squawking sea gulls and crashing surf was occasionally drowned out by helicopters taking off from a nearby helipad. Patrick Manley, a Southampton resident who ran a landscaping service, parked his truck in the sand and set out some beach chairs near the water with his wife, Mary Manley.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cThis beach is open to the public,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people feel that when they purchase these properties, they\u2019re purchasing the beach also. They\u2019re not.\u201dNot far away, Mr. Pell gave a tour of the vacant mansion with his 3-year-old Australian shepherd, Henny. As he walked along a path toward the ocean, he said he was trying to do the right thing.\u201cNot everyone owns a house on the beach or belongs to a beach club or can afford the high rates for beach stickers,\u201d Mr. Pell said. \u201cThis is something they can use for generations.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-18T09:03:00+00:00",
    "author_name": "Gerry Smith",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
    "section": "realestate",
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    "ai_headline": "The $25 Million Plan to Raze a Beach House and Put Up a Parking Lot",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Southampton Buys Mansion for Parking Lot to Improve Beach Access",
    "ai_excerpt": "Southampton is purchasing a beachfront mansion for over $25 million with plans to demolish it and create a public parking lot. This initiative aims to increase beach access for locals, a move celebrated by some but criticized by others concerned about increased traffic.",
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