Kupersmith development underway

By Aubrey Gibavic - August 24, 2006

Last week an entryway was paved off of County Road in Oak Bluffs, the new entranceway to South Woods Farms, a 26-lot luxury housing development on 90 acres being built by Corey Kupersmith of Greenwich, Conn., who saw his dreams of a championship golf club dashed on the rocks by the Martha's Vineyard Commission several years ago.

Construction of the subdivision is one of the final chapters in a story that began with Mr. Kupersmith's purchase of 280 acres in a part of town known as the Southern Woodlands. Mr. Kupersmith's original proposal included a championship golf club on approximately 90 acres of land, along with public trails, and employee housing.

Construction has begun on Corey Kupersmith's luxury housing development off County Road in Oak Bluffs. It will have an equestrian theme. Photo by Ben Scott

After his Down Island Golf Club project was rejected by the MVC for the last time in 2002, and a massive 40B housing project ended up in court, in April of 2004, Mr. Kupersmith agreed to sell all but 90 acres of the 260 acres to the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank for $18.63 million.

Under that agreement, which ended the long-running legal and regulatory battle over the proposed golf club, Mr. Kupersmith received approval for his project, which will be built with an equestrian theme and include a central pasture, horse barn, riding area, and pond and be connected to the Land Bank walking trail system.

Ron Mechur, a coordinator for the project, said clearing of the area started last spring and road construction and landscaping is moving along, with plans for construction of three homes to start just after Labor Day.

The septic plans have been approved for three homes, Mr. Mechur said, which will serve as models to the rest of the development. He said that no homes have been sold yet, as marketing has not begun.

Jerry Wiener, the Oak Bluffs building inspector, said no permits have been approved for houses at this time.

The homes will be built by a local building company Mr. Mechur said, and Lawrence-Lynch Corp., a Falmouth based company, is the general contractor for the project. Larry Ducharme is listed as the project engineer.

Currently, a long, winding paved road has been carved out of the woods just past Meadowview Farms off of County Road, where the entrance to the private development will be. The pavement leads into a large clearing and circles around a 26-acre meadow.