White Elephant residences to fill four-block area
Owner-rental project follows industry trend
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER

COURTESY OF NEW ENGLAND DEVELOPMENT CORP. For the next two years, NIR will be working on the renovation and reconstruction of his four-acre Harbor House hotel property shown at the top of this photo (NIR buildings in white). The work includes demolition of the hotel's townhouses, construction of seven new buildings, a new pool, rearrangement of the parking scheme, relocation of the main entrance and widening of South Beach Street. Work begins promptly after Sept. 15.

Designed by internationally acclaimed decorator Alexandra Champalimaud, the 60 new White Elephant private hotel residences being built by Nantucket Island Resorts to fill a four-street block between North Water, Easton, South Beach and Sea streets, will please anyone who can afford the luxury units with spa, room service and other amenities that come with the ownership package.

A two-phase construction schedule for the development, coinciding with renovations to the nearby Harbor House, will begin next month at the former Mad Hatter Restaurant property at the corner of South Beach and Easton streets. Buildings along that stretch will be ready for occupancy next summer, with phase two expected to be ready for occupancy in the summer of 2009. It is an ambitious project for the Stephen Karp family, owners of New England Development Corporation - parent company to Nantucket Island Resorts - and reflects a growing trend in the hotel industry.

"The units will be privately owned, but the owners will be encouraged to rent them when they aren't using them," explained Douglas Karp, Senior Vice- President of New England Development who is affiliated with both companies. The residences will be built for year-round use, but zoning laws dictate that they cannot be occupied longer than a six month period at a time.

"Since it is still technically a hotel it has to be run like a hotel," Karp continued. "They are buying a unit of a hotel - basically, someone owns a hotel key. It's a hybrid between having a single family dwelling and a hotel. When they are not using it we want to encourage them to rent. It can't be a primary residence because it's not a dwelling unit. It is a common trend in the hotel industry. The Nantucket Inn is a hotel condominium. Ours will be different from that, but [the concept] does exist on the island today. Ours is going to look and feel like the White Elephant, but we've seen the requests for one, two and three bedroom suites, which basically means there are a lot of requests by families. We are trying to find interest and to find that we are building what people want. Hopefully, pricing will come shortly. Basically, we are taking letters of interest from people."

According to Tom Lonergan, the Nantucket-based sales associate for the White Elephant hotel residences, plans call for the original Harbor House hotel to be enlarged with an added spa, pool and restaurant. The Harbor House will become an adjunct of the White Elephant, including the amenities White Elephant residents receive.

The new units, essentially targeted for people who prefer dining out on the island, will contain wet bars but no formal kitchens, although they will have microwave ovens, refrigerators, access to grilling facilities and White Elephant room service. The White Elephant will close for a portion of the winter, as usual, so some services for people staying in the new residences during the off-season will not be available during those months.

The units, designed by the Somerville, Mass. architectural firm of Arrowstreet, will be sold furnished and will carry annual fees not yet determined to cover maintenance, landscaping, property taxes and hotel services. The units will feature fireplaces, washer/dryer appliances, flat screen televisions and housekeeping and

related services. I