Billionaire Stefan Soloviev’s latest North Fork play is testing how far the East End’s quieter half can bend before it breaks.
He wants to turn 372 acres of farmland straddling Cutchogue and Peconic into nearly 50 luxury homes, the Suffolk Times reported. The plan has triggered fierce backlash from locals worried the North Fork is going the way of the Hamptons.
The Soloviev Group’s proposal, called the Colusa Conservation Subdivision, would carve 47 residential lots out of one of the region’s largest remaining farm tracts. Plans call for 18 bluff-top parcels overlooking Long Island Sound and 29 inland lots, while preserving 267 acres of farmland. The project, through Soloviev’s Crossroads Atlantic LLC, could be worth hundreds of millions when built.
Southold officials initially called the proposal “encouraging” for its use of the town’s conservation subdivision model, which preserves farmland while allowing limited development. But town planners later flagged major issues.
In a letter last month, planning director Heather Lanza wrote the design didn’t conform to Southold’s comprehensive plan, citing concerns that residential spurs would cut through preserved farmland. She called for a “more compact clustered lot design” and better integration of open space.
Soloviev, heir to the late real estate titan Sheldon Solow, has become one of the East End’s biggest landowners in recent years, assembling hundreds of acres through his Crossroads Atlantic venture.
The company, which farms across several states, withdrew an earlier 11-lot proposal for part of the same site in 2021 after neighbor pushback.
Opposition this time has been loud and sharp. On social media and in civic groups, residents warned of “South Forkification,” shorthand for the creeping luxury and second-home influx that’s transformed the Hamptons. Critics question whether 47 multimillion-dollar homes will serve the local community or simply add to traffic and strain local services.
Civic leaders are watching closely. Carolyn McCall, president of the local civic association in Cutchogue, said the group may host a forum on the plan once a revised sketch is filed.
“I’m hoping that the town will continue to strike that balance between economic development and also the preservation of our land and the quality of life that we enjoy so much out here in Southold,” board member Dave Bergen told the publication.
— Holden Walter-Warner
Read more
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My 25 minutes with the enigmatic Stefan Soloviev
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