Cape Cod Sea Camps attracts a serious new entrant

‘Hale’ has a century in outdoor education and a big footprint outside Boston

A major new player has joined what is the biggest real estate play on Cape Cod. It now looks like friends and alumni of the former Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster have more firepower and a real shot at keeping the land open, publicly available, still focused on children and camping.

In steps “Hale.” Since 1918, Hale has been running outdoor education programs for kids in and around Greater Boston – lots of kids, including inner city kids, as many as 4400 campers per summer, 10,000 visitors during the school year. Hale owns a single site of more than 1100 acres straddling Westwood and Dover, upscale suburbs west of Boston, including four ponds and 20 miles of hiking trails.

This is a serious organization with a mission that closely resembles the hopes of the Brewster Flats Foundation, the group trying to save the Sea Camps from private development.

“We reached out to the Flats Foundation,” reports Eric Arnold, who has been involved with Hale for 20 years and is executive director. “There are so many synergies between what the alum are hoping for, thinking about how to maintain the camp’s legacy -- but also creating an experience for kids who maybe wouldn’t have this opportunity. Hale has over a century of experience running a business and all that stuff. Brewster Flats is not that yet.”

Talks have progressed to the point where both sides say they have a basic understanding and agreement about how they would partner if they can convince the Delahanty family, owners of the property, to sell to them versus a private developer.

That comes down to the offer, and the timing.

Jim Fay from the Brewster Flats Foundation reports that his group has secured $1.5 million in pledges from more than 450 gifts ranging from $5 to $100,000-plus. But that’s a fraction of what the property is worth.

To get real, the foundation hired a company to come back with a hard estimate of market value. They focused on the large parcel the camp owns that stretches from Route 6A to Cape Cod Bay, 55 acres with 800 feet of beach, and avoided a second bigger but less panoramic inland parcel of 70 acres that includes 600 feet of frontage on Long Pond in Brewster. Their hope is that the town, or the town’s conservation trust, might go after that inland piece to protect watershed and create more public access on the pond.

According to Fay, here’s what the survey and appraisal said:

Of all possible uses for the 55 acres, a large-lot subdivision would max out value, and therefore lead to the highest offer to the present owners. That might mean 20 lots should all zoning hurdles clear (and there are many). People have speculated that this amazing land could sell for as much as $25 or $30 million, but by this analysis the real market value is $9 to $13 million before “improvements.” Lowland, wetland, beachfront, setbacks, infrastructure requirements all play a role in creating this assessment.

“So one of the big question marks,” says Fay, “is this: Is there any chance you can compete with land developers?”

While there has been no direct communication between the landowners and Fay’s foundation, there has been enough conversation among representatives to merit signing what’s called an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement that precludes either side from talking specifics about a negotiation. Fay is honoring that, but says given the appraisal work the foundation has done, an initial fundraising goal has been established: $10 million, including the $1.5 million already raised.

Hale’s arrival on the scene brings serious camp credibility and expertise, but Fay also worries about what he calls “whiplash”:

“The Sea Camps closed, that was a shock, and then comes the Brewster Flats Foundation, and now Hale. Who are these folks? Who will operate this?”

The question is relevant only if a deal can be struck, but the answer seems to be that Hale will take over operation in partnership and “inspired by the people who want the Cape Cod Sea Camps to continue,” as Arnold puts it.

Just as important for people whose primary goal is to keep the land from being subdivided and developed, both Hale and the Flats Foundation say a conservation restriction on the deed itself would guarantee that come what may, the big parcel cannot be sectioned off and sold piecemeal.

“That could be a really valuable thing, provided it has enough flexibility to run the business,” says Arnold.

Hale’s track record also reinforces what the Flats Foundation has been saying ever since they came together: The vision is not simply to resurrect a six-week summer camp mainly for wealthy families. Hale has year-round programming that attracts kids from many socio-economic backgrounds, and also creates public access, from hiking trails to events. Welcoming the general public to the amazing bay beach, for example, is something Arnold sees as a strong and attractive possibility.

“The reason this is coming together,” says Fay, “is that the two groups share a vision, and three key values: One, protection of the land. Two, inclusivity. Three, child-centered programming.

“And what would be failure? It becomes private, and no one can go there.”

Timing?

“It’s all contingent on what the sellers see,” says Arnold. “We would love to be able to offer some kind of camp experience in 2022, probably not at the level of the former Sea Camps, but we want to be dormant for as short a time as possible.”

The plot thickens. Quiet conversations – in and around town hall and the town conservation trust, among non-profits and their donors, to and from those representing the owners, among other Realtors and potential developers – surely will continue.

(For the first two “Voice” reports on the situation at the Sea Camps, in late April and early May, check these out:)

https://sethrolbein.substack.com/p/cape-cod-sea-camps-shutter-with-shudders

https://sethrolbein.substack.com/p/whats-the-play-at-cape-cod-sea-camps

NEXT: DOING LINES — THE NATURAL KIND

P.S. Doing first-time interviews, I often ask people if they have any connection to the Cape, because many do and often the stories are great. For example Eric Arnold from Hale:

In the mid 1980s he did the thing young people could do then; find a cheap place to live in Provincetown, share it with a buddy or two, and spend an awesome summer. Settling in, he went down to the pier and saw one of the early generation of Dolphin Fleet whalewatch boats. He asked about work. Whoever he talked to (probably an Avellar), said, “Go on the next trip about to leave, and when you get back if you still want to work, you got a job.”

It was a rough day, Arnold came back shaky and a little green, but he was hooked, spent the rest of the summer whalewatching, and loved it.

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