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After stagnating in the shadow of the Village of Patchogue’s renaissance, big changes could be in store for East Patchogue — more than 130,000 square feet of change.
Rechler Equity Partners, LLC, a Plainview-based reality company, is expected to purchase six buildings from 293 to 311 East Main St. later this year, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
Upon purchase, The Manor, Sal’s Patchogue Barber Shop and four other properties would be demolished, making way for a three-story apartment building akin to Rechler’s Greybarn apartments in Amityville.
The 131,000-square-foot building would house 91 luxury apartments, as well as a rooftop pool, according to the site plan. If the Amityville Greybarn is an indication, the site might also contain a billiards room, library, gym, a Peloton room game room and other amenities.
Under the current plans, the developer would also purchase a house at 312 E. Main St. and donate it to the Patchogue Arts Council, representatives of which did not immediately respond to Greater Long Island’s inquiry into the matter.
Brookhaven Town Councilman Neil Foley said he, as well as many in the East Patchogue community, support the Greybarn plan, which could be the first major redevelopment in the corridor’s overlay district, approved in 2020.
The house at 312 E. Main St. in East Patchogue that would be donated.
“What our goal was years ago for this plan was to reinvent East Patchogue,” Foley said. “We don’t want to be the Village of Patchogue, and that’s not a knock. We just want to bring new businesses, retail and new housing over to the East Patchogue corridor.”
G4 Capital Partners and the NRP Group are also working with the town to further redevelop the East Main Street corridor, but land use applications have yet to be filed by either developer.
G4 has submitted site plans, however, which call for three, two-story buildings ranging from 12,000 to 20,000 square feet at the site of the former Plaza Theatre, demolished 10 years ago this month.
‘where would I go?’
Bringing in new development means some of the old ones would have to go, including Sal’s Patchogue Barber Shop.
“I’m here 41 years, I live with these people,” Sal Bademci said between cutting hair. “I love my customers, my customers are like family.”
The 67-year-old shop owner said he will not leave East Patchogue, where he also lives.
“If I don’t find a place here where would I go?”
Sal Bademci at Sal’s Barbershop in East Patchogue.
Bademci currently pays $1,700 each month in rent, but says many landlords are looking for several thousand each month. But, should the Rechler plan come to fruition, he said he is hopeful he will find a new storefront. Many people are already helping him look. Included among them is Foley.
“I’ve been working with Sal the past month or so,” Foley said. “A group of us are looking to help him move. Sal is going to land somewhere with the help of the town and the community. I can guarantee it.”
While Foley said that “change is not easy sometimes,” regarding Bademci’s shop and Evan Abizas’ The Manor (formerly called Mediterranean), he said Rechler’s redevelopment effort is a step in the right direction for the corridor.
The Manor owners, did not respond to Greater Long Island inquiries.
According to the land use application filed by Rechler’s sister company R Squared Patchogue LLC, the Greybarn building project will cost $20 million, create approximately 87 construction jobs and generate $557,040 in tax revenues after completion.
Although the developer filed applications and submitted site plans, it would be a while until demolition and construction begin. “We’re still looking at an 18 month window,” Foley said, accounting for town and planning board processes. “My guess would be shovels in the ground sometime in late 22, maybe fall of 22.”
