'Equity residence club' planned
Harborview Place is new face on Washington Street
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Overshadowed by the Harbor House and Point Breeze developments

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Harborview Place is currently under construction.

on the other side of town, Harborview Place, on the corner of Commercial and Washington Streets, chugs along on schedule.

The seven-building property

was purchased for $10.5 million on Sept. 15, 2005 from Nantucket Island Resorts by Time & Place, a Washington, D.C.-based company owned by Mitch Willey that specializes in private hotels. The former condos sit on .47 of an acre at 3 Commercial St. and .13 of an acre at 24 Washington St. and are being renovated into 10 luxury apartments.

Formerly known as Harbor View Apartments, the 12 units were part of the Boat Basin Cottages that First Winthrop used for employee housing when it owned the property.

Now the buildings - Periwinkle, Pisces, Hermit Crab A/B, Hermit Crab C, Crow's Nest, Water's Edge and Nautilus - are being gutted and reconfigured, their walls and roofs stripped and reshingled. The landscaping, sidewalks and curbing are to be redone as well, with all buildings to have access to the harbor.

The apartments are being sold as part of an equity residence club in which those who buy in get a oneeighth deeded interest in the unit they choose, with the ability to use that space for a minimum of six weeks a year if all owners of the unit use it equally. However, Harborview Place stresses on its Web site, www.harborviewnantucket. com/, that owners may get more time in their units because some may spend less than their guaranteed six weeks on the island.

The one-eighth shares range in price from $550,000 to $950,000, based on the choice of one-, two- or three-bedroom units, said Willey.

Potential buyers who want to own an entire unit will be paying $2.4 to $4.6 million, depending on the number of bedrooms. Willey said he has a few people interested, but no contracts have been signed.

"We've always conceived it to be a beautiful waterfront compound celebrating the historic nature of the buildings

and really focused on the natural environment that exists there and really

focused on the water, the sand and the wetlands," said Willey.

Project architect and spokesman Andrew D. Kotchen said that Harborview Place is on schedule to open three of the units in June, with the rest being completed by the end of 2008 or early 2009.

"Everything is moving along very well, the project is on schedule," he said. "We had run into some problems with Hermit Crab. Our complications were due to the fact it was located in the flood plain."

In an effort to make the residences as green as possible, even though a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification is not being sought, Kotchen said Willey is going as green as he can with the buildings.

To the extent possible, all of the units' interiors are being finished with sustainable materials, including paperless drywall that is easier to work with, dries quickly and does not attract mold. All cabinets are to be made of formaldehyde-free, medium density fiberboard and all cabinets, floors, walls and trim will be finished with low volatile organic compound paints.

"For the clients on the project, it's really a big thing, not just for marketing, [but] it just really creates a better project," said Kotchen. "The project doesn't really lend itself to that, as it is a lot of renovation.

"For us, in the end, it is about doing things right, instead of stamping it with

a LEED certification." I