Three Design Teams to Create Luxury Residences at the Panoramic View in Montauk, NY
NEW YORK (May 22, 2007) – Traditional Home magazine is launching a one-of-a-kind design challenge, Oceans 3: Showhouse Showdown. Three design teams, comprised of an experienced pro and up-and-coming protégé, will each design and decorate a luxury residence for Traditional Home at the Panoramic View Residences, on the ocean in Montauk, New York. Throughout the process, editors will create design assignments to fuel the creative competition.
The designer pros are Eric Cohler, Philip Gorrivan and Amanda Nisbet. Traditional Home will also give three up-and-coming design student students the chance to spend their summer internship as design protégées working with Cohler, Gorrivan and Nisbet. A television crew is planning on following the teams as they create, then design and decorate the villas for the Oceans 3: Showhouse Showdown television special to air in late 2008.
Cohler, Gorrivan and Nisbet are three of the nation’s leading interior designers who handle residential and commercial projects around the world. Cohler is often lauded for his distinguishing ability to fuse classical and contemporary elements. Dubbed “The Mixmaster” by industry editors, Cohler’s interior spaces display layers of unusual texture, color, and verve. Gorrivan’s interiors speak to the importance of balance; antiques are delicately paired with contemporary furnishings, symmetry is enhanced by a touch of whimsy, and soft tonal palates are highlighted by signature, pops of color. Clients praise Gorrivan’s ability to enliven and add glamour with one well-chosen piece. Untethered by design rules, Nisbet brings a fresh energetic approach to a traditional sense of luxury. Her work seamlessly balances function and style, Classicism and Modernism, in surprising ways.
The Panoramic View residences will play host to a variety of events during the summer and fall, including a partnership with the Hamptons International Film Festival. This will include participation in the Film Festival Opening Night Screening and Gala at Gurney’s Inn, Panoramic View’s neighbor, as well as a Hamptons Film Festival Unveiling Party for the Showhouses at the Panoramic View on Saturday, October 18.
The luxury oceanfront residences will be open Sunday, Oct. 19; Thursday – Sunday, Oct. 23-26; and Thursday – Sunday, Oct. 30 – Nov. 2 (11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekends) for public tours. Tour and event proceeds will benefit Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation (www.montaukplayhouse.org). The completed homes will be featured in Traditional Home magazine in seven issues in 2008 and 2009.
The Panoramic View Resort & Residences has been a renowned destination resort more than 50 years. Sitting on 10 hillside acres directly “over” the ocean, the property is known for its spectacular setting and beautiful white sandy beach. Distinctive Ventures purchased the property in 2007 and began a gut renovation resulting in 68 one to five bedroom residences ranging from 1,500 square feet to 4,500 square feet. The luxury residences have panoramic ocean views from every room. Property amenities include beach and pool chair services, a heated pool with privacy cabanas, state-of-the-art fitness center, concierge services, bell staff, housekeeping and complete year-round maintenance. The developer of the project is Adam Manson of Distinctive Ventures LLC and Oak Gentry of Gentry Construction is the builder.
Patrick Taylor, 212-551-6984, Patrick.Taylor@meredith.com
Panoramic’s Reps Take on Rumors
By Janis Hewitt
(09/13/2007) A team from Distinctive Ventures, the developers renovating the 55-year-old Panoramic View Hotel in Montauk, now known as the Panoramic View Oceanfront Resort and Luxury Villas, were pummeled with questions at a meeting of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday night.
The Distinctive Ventures Group, including Adam Manson, its president, standing at right, appeared before the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee Monday to dispel rumors about the project at the Panoramic View Oceanfront Resort and Villas.
The project has drawn criticism from the public in recent months.
Adam Manson, the president of the development firm, based in Great Neck, answered most of the questions at Monday night’s meeting. He said he was there to dispel rumors of a stop-work order on the project. That order, he said, was issued on a retaining wall that had collapsed and had not been approved for work in the original plan. He said that the firm had reapplied and received town approval to replace the retaining wall.
“We didn’t want to quickly paint, carpet, and walk away from this,” Mr. Manson said. “We wanted to be proud of it and do the right thing.”
The Panoramic View was a seasonal motel with 123 units before the French family converted it to co-ops in the early 1980s, Mr. Manson said. He added that once renovations are complete there will be a reduction in density on the property, with about 70 or 80 units costing upwards of $2.55 million each. He said that since the site had been converted before the town created a law regulating condos and co-ops, a new site plan approval was not needed for the current project. The first phase of the renovations was done on an area known as the Hilltop, a building that Mr. Manson said had been reduced from 23 units to 10 and should be completed within 10 weeks.
Committee members said that even though the density has been reduced, the units have become conducive to year-round use, and that worried them. The developers assured the committee that most of the buyers were only planning to use the property seasonally, and part time. They also said the units could not be rented out by their individual owners to large groups, because the property was governed by a set of bylaws prohibiting such use, Mr. Manson explained.
Staff housing is being included in the plan, with space currently available for nine employees. The developers said that they are also voluntarily designing some units in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In 1984, the French family began to sell the units, while continuing to run the rest as a motel. In 2006, Distinctive Ventures purchased a majority of co-operative shares from the family and began to renovate the resort. When the project is complete, the property will have five multi-unit buildings and four single-family oceanfront villas.
Mr. Manson made a point of saying that the proper permits from the East Hampton Town Building Department were in place. He also said that the town had received all taxes due, adding, “The town actually did very well on this.”
Mr. Manson also said that the firm had sought advice about lighting from Susan Harder of the Dark Sky Society, and had adhered to town code on lighting. In an interview after the meeting, Mr. Mason said, “One of the most beautiful things about the Hamptons, and what’s magical about being on a beach, is looking up at the night sky and seeing all the stars.”
Oakley Gentry, the builder working on the site, said it had been carefully studied and that the exterior design was comparable to that of other coastal resorts. He noted repeatedly during the meeting that the work now is a renovation and “reskinning” of the exteriors. “There was a lot of sensitivity to the architecture,” he said. “We didn t spare any cost here.”
Committee members expressed concern about the environmental impact on the oceanfront site, which is about 85 feet above sea level and is spread out on 10 acres south of Old Montauk Highway. The property’s water source had been a well shared by the Gurney’s Inn Resort, but water will soon come from Suffolk County Water Authority mains.
There has also been an upgrade and replacement of the sanitary system, Mr. Manson said. “The sanitary system that was installed 50 years ago was kind of off-the-seat-of-your-pants,” he said, opining that the new system will put less stress on environment.
An environmental impact statement was not needed, Mr. Gentry said, because the State Department of Environmental Conservation had decided it was a nonjurisdictional property. He said that the renovations are within the original building’s footprint: “We are doing minimal work with little or no environmental impact with the changes.”
In closing, Mr. Manson invited committee members to visit the site or the company’s Web site, www.Panoramic view.com. He reiterated the invitation in a follow-up interview, and noted that when people visit they are pleasantly surprised by what they find. He said he had heard rumors of an elevator down to the beach and of seven-story buildings going up. “Before you know it, all the gossip became fact, and none of it was true,” he said, and laughed.
