Bay Street Theatre signs lease, still looking

In January, the 299-seat Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor gave itself two months to find a permanent home but failed to meet that deadline.

The regional theater — which brings about 30,000 people a year to downtown Sag Harbor — now has another deadline, but it’s a lot further away: 10 years.

The theater has signed a new contract with its landlord, Pat Malloy, which gives it “stability and long-term flexibility,” according to executive director Tracy Mitchell.

Under the new lease, the theater will stay at Bay Street for three years, then be subject to a two-year opt-out clause that will continue for the life of the contract.

This means that, should a new location be found, the landlord must receive a two-year notice before the theater can relocate.

Bay Street’s board of directors has been looking at several alternative sites for a permanent home and believes it will take about three years to either build a new facility or move into a new location once a decision to do that is made.

As a regional theater operating under an Actors Equity contract, Bay Street has to provide actors with housing and other benefits.

And because it is on Long Wharf, it has do deal with an expensive real estate rental market, as well as the cost of building and storing sets in another location.

With a lease that now runs to 2023, theater officials say they will have a better chance to find long-term sources of funding, since they will be in the same location for a decade.

Details of the new lease were not provided.