Care To Buy An Island Off The Hamptons? Don't Mind The Foot-And-Mouth Disease
Plum Island lies just off the tip of Long Island, not far from the Hamptons. It sports miles of unblemished shoreline, hundreds of acres of undeveloped forest, a lighthouse — and the federal government is planning to put all of it on the auction block.
But before you go putting your bid down, you should probably know: Many of the current residents have foot-and-mouth disease. And their neighbors on the mainland like it that way.
Now, foot-and-mouth disease is harmless to humans — but it's highly contagious among hoofed animals. It packs the potential to decimate the $60 billion cattle industry in the U.S., which is a big reason why Congress, fearing the threat of an outbreak, confined the disease to Plum Island in 1955. For over half a century, the island was the only legal location to conduct research on it.
In 2008, though, Congress authorized the Department of Homeland Security to find a "suitable" alternative site. So, the research program will be moving to the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kans. Jason Golden, the island's official tour guide, says developments in lab safety means better research can safely be done on the American mainland.
The date of the island's auction will be set once officials know better when the Department of Homeland Security will be done building the new site.
Still, if you're in the market for a high-security bio-lab — and an island to go along with it — now's your time to start mulling a bid.
Golden says there's so much more to the island: a 19th-century lighthouse atop a grassy hill, an old Army base, a power plant, even fresh water. Perhaps Plum Island's biggest selling point, though, is its expanse of wetlands and forests the size of Central Park — which is so close to Central Park you could take a helicopter to get between the two spots.
"We've conducted many of these competitive sales, but there's no comparison to it," says Patrick Sclafani, a spokesman for the General Services Administration, the agency auctioning off the property.
Usually, the GSA just auctions surplus Army trailers and rusty barges. For Plum Island, however, Sclafani says the group is planning focus groups to figure out who might want to own a series of sandy beaches and a biolab. Their best guess right now is either a preservationist, a research company or a developer.
Whoever the buyer may be, the price could be steep. Jonathan Miller, a real estate appraiser and researcher who specializes in luxury properties, says the key here is location, location, location. Plum Island is next-door to the Hamptons, one of the wealthiest communities in the country.
"The most expensive real estate transaction was in the Hamptons," Miller points out, "and it was $147 million."
Acre by acre, Miller says Plum Island could be worth as much as a billion dollars. And while zoning and litigation could affect that value, its history of contagious animal disease isn't likely to scare anyone off.
"So there's many examples of quote unquote 'stigmatized properties' that — who would think anyone would live in these?" Miller says. "And then you gut it, strip it, remediate, create a high-end real estate product that breaks records in the neighborhood."
Among locals, the matter of who will buy the island is still a matter of fierce debate. The nearby town of Southold, on Long Island, turned Plum Island into a "research district" in 2013, meaning that one can only build there so long as the project contributes to "research or education."
Environmentalists, for their part, are threatening to block any transaction that doesn't include protections for endangered species. Meanwhile, developers are pushing the idea of a Google Island or Apple Island.
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Transcript
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The federal government is planning its biggest public auction ever, and on the auction block is an island not far from the Hamptons on Long Island. It has millions of unblemished shoreline, hundreds of acres of undeveloped forest, a lighthouse, a ferry terminal, but if you're interested in buying it, you ought to know the current residents have foot-and-mouth disease. And the neighbors on the mainland like it that way. From member station WSHU, Charles Lane reports how the government will go about auctioning a unique property.
CHARLES LANE, BYLINE: Foot-and-mouth disease is harmless to humans, but it's highly contagious among hoofed animals and could potentially decimate the country's $60 billion cattle industry. Officials were so worried about outbreak, the only place you could legally research the disease was here on Plum Island, not one mile from the tip of Long Island.
JASON GOLDEN: You can see the animal intake right here. You can see the ramps up there, the - all the animals were upstairs.
LANE: Jason Golden is the official tour guide for Plum Island. He says developments in lab safety means better research can safely be done on the mainland. So the program will be moving to Kansas, which means if you're in the market for a high-security biolab, now's your chance. But, Golden says, there's so much more to the island.
GOLDEN: Moving all the way around, you see the South Fork of Long Island out here. This all the Hamptons. Basically everything from about right there to about right there is all open Atlantic, and depending on which way your vector is, you're either going to hit Morocco, Spain or Portugal.
LANE: As if selling an island weren't enough, this one also boasts a 19th century lighthouse on top of a grassy hill. There's an old army base, there's a power plant, even fresh water. But perhaps Plum Island's biggest selling point is its pristine wetlands and forests - an area the size of Central Park and just a helicopter ride away from Central Park. Patrick Sclafani is a spokesman for the General Service Administration, the agency auctioning off the property.
PATRICK SCLAFANI: We've conducted many of these competitive sales, but there's no comparison to it.
LANE: Usually GSA just posts online surplus army trailers and rusty barges. Sclafani says for Plum Island, they're planning focus groups to figure out who might want sandy beaches and a biolab. The best guess right now is either a preservationist, a research company or a developer. Jonathan Miller is a real estate appraiser and researcher who specializes in luxury properties. He says the potential of Plum Island is huge because it's right next door to one of the wealthiest communities in the country.
JONATHAN MILLER: Actually, the most expensive real estate transaction was in the Hamptons, and it was $147 million.
LANE: Acre by acre, Miller says Plum Island could be worth as much as a billion dollars, but it's not that simple. Zoning and litigation could affect the value, but contagious animal diseases, not so much.
MILLER: So there's many examples of quote, unquote, "stigmatized properties" that are, you know, who would think that anybody would ever live in these? And then you gut it, strip it, remediate and then create, you know, high-end real estate product that breaks records in the neighborhood.
LANE: Who ultimately buys Plum Island is the subject of fierce local debate. The nearby town has zoned the island, so, essentially, it could only be used for research. Environmentalists are threatening to block any transaction that doesn't include protections from endangered species. Meanwhile, developers are pushing the idea of a Google Island or an Apple Island. For NPR News, I'm Charles Lane. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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