Is the town looking to buy the Craig property off Sparks Avenue? The 2.3-acre mid-island parcel located between the Boys & Girls Club and the Stop & Shop has been the subject of intense interest for more than a decade, and now the next chapter of speculation could be about to unfold. The Select Board will meet behind closed doors this week to discuss the “purchase, exchange, lease or value of” the Craig property during an executive session. Several Select Board members said Sunday that they were not even aware that it was an agenda item.
The Craig property was sold by Joan Craig to DJ McKinnon’s Atlantic Development in 2011, and was under consideration to become the site of a new grocery store. At the time, the island’s supermarket landscape was unsettled with the closing of the downtown Grand Union grocery store. But Stop & Shop made moves to solidify its position as the island’s only supermarket, leasing the former Grand Union location to open a second store, and securing control the Craig Property with another lease to prevent competition. In recent years, Stop & Shop allowed Nantucket Cottage Hospital to utilize the Craig property as a staging area for the construction of the new hospital. But now, let’s see if it gets interesting.
