A new and unprecedented development proposal is on the table from a new nonprofit looking to reshape a portion of prime real estate on the Vineyard Haven waterfront.

If approved, the proposal would transform properties along the harbor owned by the DeSorcy family, providing access to the beach and harbor, expanding Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway’s boat building shop, relocating two World War II-era building and creating new year-round studio and gallery space.

Vineyard Lands for Our Community, the fledgling nonprofit formed behind the project, filed plans for this week with the Tisbury conservation commission, kicking off a lengthy permitting process for the multi-million dollar development. The project would revamp five parcels along Vineyard Haven Harbor, from the Ernie Boch Jr. Park to the now closed DeSorcy paint building. 

A rendering shows a new proposed building. — Courtesy of Vineyard Lands for Our Community

“It’s a new concept, totally, in that all of this... is being done for the community, not for the developer” said Steve Bernier, the owner of the Martha’s Vineyard Times and the president of the board for the year-old nonprofit.

Called HarborWorks, the waterfront project also envisions a public amphitheatre and lawn at what is currently a locked, private park owned by Mr. Boch, at 30 Beach Road.

Phil Wallis, Vineyard Lands for Our Community’s executive director, said that while a long-term agreement with Mr. Boch is still in the works, the seasonal Edgartown resident has agreed to let the nonprofit include his park in the designs to be reviewed by town officials and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

At the same time, the new foundation is scrambling to raise several million dollars over the next few weeks in order to acquire the adjoining Beach Road parcels from the DeSorcy family. 

The closing date is August 1, said Mr. Wallis, who told the Gazette that Vineyard Lands for Our Community needs about $5 million for the purchase, closing costs and engineering work.

Taylor Stone, Phil Wallis, Althea Freeman-Miller and Andy Herr. — Ray Ewing

The professional team for HarborWorks consists of three Islanders: principal designer Josh Dunn, architect Maurice O’Connor and engineer George Sourati.

Drawings for the project show an elevated walkway between buildings, allowing ground-level views of the harbor, as well as a shady arcade and multiple seating areas.

The amphitheatre features an airy shed-style stage with translucent solar panels, and the beach has a dock into Vineyard Haven Harbor.

The expanded Gannon & Benjamin boat-building operation will help tell the story of the working waterfront, and also allow more Island teenagers to learn wooden boat making as interns, co-owner and designer Nat Benjamin said.

Althea Freeman-Miller’s Althea Gallery, the former Van Ryper boat model shop that turned out silhouettes of enemy ships during World War II to help coastal residents watch for danger, would be moved as part of the HarborWorks project, as would the MV Times building. Both structures would be relocated on either side of Boch Park.

Ernie Boch Jr.'s park could be used in the proposal. — Ray Ewing

Ms. Miller, a printmaker and president of the Vineyard Haven Harbor Cultural District, said she’d gladly move to the new artists’ building at HarborWorks, and that the park and amphitheatre would expand the opportunities for First Friday events in town. 

Subject to town, MVC and state approvals over the year to come, work could begin on HarborWorks in 2025, according to the nonprofit.

There will be much for the regulatory bodies to consider, said Mr. Wallis, who was executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum when it renovated and moved to the old marine hospital on Lagoon Pond Road a decade ago.

“This is a complex project,” he said. “The museum... was no easy shakes, but this is one step further in complexity.”

Climate change and rising water levels, the proximity to Five Corners and the vulnerability of Beach Road are among the complicating factors, Mr. Wallis said.

The proposed 25,000-square-foot building for artists and artisans, is planned to be built on piles and will have 30 parking spaces underneath, likely drawing close scrutiny.

A rendering shows the MV Times building moved and a new ampitheatre along the waterfront. — Vineyard Lands for Our Community

“This is the cutting edge of development in a flooding area [and] could take into next year to try and work it out,” Mr. Wallis said.

“We all believe — the board and others that I interact with — that there’s so much goodness and rightness in this design [and] that there’s going to be trade-offs,” he said.

Tisbury select board member Roy Cutrer was impressed with the proposal.

“Personally, I feel that area is in need of improvement,” he said. “The design looks well done and well thought out.”