Low-income housing project sparks outrage in Nantucket billionaire’s playground

Plans to build an affordable housing complex on Nantucket remain in limbo after locals opposed the plan, insisting the prosperous island lacks the infrastructure and resources for development.

Surfside Crossing promised 156 homes on the 13.5-acre site, with 70 percent designated for people who live on the island year-round.

On an island where a 5,075-square-foot home recently sold for $33 million, and where John Kerry and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman spend their summers, securing housing for those working in tourism or the local economy is a perennial challenge.

Local developers Jamie Feeley and Josh Posner, who previously built an award-winning 40-unit affordable housing project on the island called Beach Plum Village, said their proposal was the answer.

Nantucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts, has long attracted wealthy tourists and second-home owners: affordable housing has been a perennial issue

They said 15 of the houses and 24 of the condos would sell for between $261,000 and $373,000, and none of the 156 properties would top $1 million.

However, the locals have been fighting for five years to stop the scheme.

“Most people on the island think that affordable housing is the number one problem they face,” Posner said.

Josh Posner, one of the developers hoping to complete Surfside

“And yet these attempts to try to do something about it often have a tragic flaw: They’re on someone’s side.”

Meghan Perry, one of the leaders of the Nantucket Tipping Point protest group, said the daily beast that his objections were not ‘NIMBYism’.

Perry noted that the island’s fire marshal testified that the development posed a “serious public safety issue.”

Others were concerned about the nearby school, traffic patterns, and rare species in the area.

Local developers Jamie Feeley and Josh Posner previously built an award-winning 40-home affordable housing project on the island called Beach Plum Village.

Posner and Feeley insist their development will go ahead, despite concerns.

Developers insist Surfside Crossing is a valuable response to Nantucket’s housing crisis

Local residents say a housing development proposal, first submitted in 2018, is unsustainable on the island

Developers expect to build 156 homes on this 15-acre site near the coast

The developers promise that none of the properties will top $1 million, with 15 of the houses and 24 of the condos selling for between $261,000 and $373,000.

He also doubted the housing was affordable, telling the site: “It’s not really, it’s for developers to make a profit that won’t benefit us.”

He added: “It’s going to weaken our infrastructure, it’s going to put our first responders at risk, it’s going to put the community at risk.”

Meghan Perry spearheads campaign to stop construction of Surfside Crossing

Nantucket locals say they are concerned about the ability of their schools and emergency services to cope with the new development.

President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Ashley Biden leave Nantucket Bookworks during their Thanksgiving trip to the island.

President Biden walks down a Nantucket street on November 26, holding hands with his grandson Beau, 2

President Joe Biden and Jill Biden pose with firefighters during their Thanksgiving trip to the Nantucket Firehouse.

The protests continued, but the Housing Appeals Committee gave Surfside Crossing its final seal of approval in September 2022.

Residents then filed three lawsuits challenging the decision, including a filing by the nonprofit Nantucket Land Council that claimed the construction would threaten their work on behalf of public lands.

Posner told the site that they still believe the concerns can be resolved and the project is moving forward.

“Hopefully as the reality of this and the overwhelmingly positive impact it will have on the island sinks in, we won’t have to go through the whole legal process,” Posner said.

‘But if we have to go all the way, we’ll go all the way.’