Church-To-Textile Showroom Project In Sag Harbor Gets Tax Incentives From Suffolk County

Smack-dab on the ground floor of the cavernous former Sag Harbor United Methodist Church is an unintentionally artistic-looking pile of lath. Each narrow strip of wood juts out as though part of a carefully designed sculpture.

In fact, the pile is just the haphazard result of wood strips being tossed from the second floor during the removal of plaster.

“It’s amazing, right?” said Elizabeth Dow, a textile designer who owns the 19th century church building on Madison Street, and is working feverishly to transform it from empty sanctuary to art studio.

After more than two years of negotiations, Ms. Dow recently completed her purchase of the roughly 10,000-square-foot building. A building permit in the window is dated late June.

And where the pile of lath is today, she envisions her high-end textiles and fabric wall coverings showcased for all to see as early as next spring. That is the anticipated date by which the current construction work will be completed and her eponymous business will move from its present site, on the upper floor of an old barn in Amagansett, to the former church in Sag Harbor, where the new showroom will take on the name of its address, 48 Madison. In the end, it will house a design studio, factory, showroom and sales office.

The $3.2 million renovation project is also getting a boost from Suffolk County. Next Thursday, the county’s Industrial Development Agency expects to grant final approval to an incentive package to support Ms. Dow’s project. The package, which is intended to help spur job growth while preserving a historic building and helping revitalize Sag Harbor’s business district by reducing the tax bill, received initial approval from the agency last Thursday, August 9.

The agency has committed to $250,000 in property tax relief over 15 years, a $14,000 exemption on the mortgage recording tax, and a $42,000 sales tax exemption on building materials for the expansion, including equipment purchases.

“We felt that it’s a very strong revitalization project that is taking place in Suffolk County, where Ms. Dow is investing a significant amount of money in re-purposing a building that’s not in use,” said Anthony Manetta, executive director of the county agency. “You’re talking about a piece of property that may have been abandoned, vacant, potentially falling into disrepair. Now we have aggressive incentives for turning around that project.”

Ms. Dow bought the property for more than $2 million and is investing another $1 million into its renovation and preservation.

As she stepped over nails and boards in the empty construction zone-soon-to-be-studio on Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Dow, an East Hampton resident who said she is “54 going on 24,” seemed as in awe of the space as she was when she saw it for the first time.

“I fell in love with the building. I fell in love with the volume of the space,” she said, tiny clouds of dust billowing up with each step up the wide staircase. “My goal is to save this building.”

That is one goal, at least. She spoke of seeking to save a landmark structure in the village’s historic district, restore its splendor, and let it be accessible to the public once again. She also plans to create jobs in the art and design realm—she now has seven full-time employees but plans to boost that number; she noted that she is interviewing a former Sag Harbor resident who has lived in New York City for years and is looking to return home but hasn’t had the job opportunity to do so. Also, a renowned art and design internship program Ms. Dow offers will become available to high school students who are within walking distance of Pierson High School.

“I envision it as a very cornerstone of the design community,” she said, noting that her textile and wall covering business will occupy the ground level, and an interior design center would occupy the showroom level, the former sanctuary with a soaring ceiling. The old choir loft, a mezzanine overlooking the showroom, will house interior design offices.

Joanne Minieri, a deputy county executive and the commissioner of economic development and planning, noted the unusual combination of manufacturing, retail and teaching.

“When I had an opportunity to tour Elizabeth Dow’s facilities, it became clear that her project is transformational in a variety of ways,” she said in an emailed statement. “Even as her renovation of a historic structure will preserve a part of Sag Harbor’s past, her project is going forward with the future in mind, using a smart growth approach and green energy technologies.” Some of those technologies are geothermal heating and cooling and solar panels.

“This is a story about saving this landmark building and making an adaptive reuse,” Ms. Dow said.