Greybarn’s Patchogue proposed site plans were officially submitted to the Town of Brookhaven for East Main Street and Evergreen Avenue. The East Patchogue Rechler proposal is slated for the current Mediterranean Manor and 293 East Main Street, which has been vacant and boarded since a fire in 2019.
The proposed site, councilman Neil Foley explained, is for a three-story Greybarn with a pool, clubhouse, waterfall and accompanying landscaping.
“I look forward to seeing the redevelopment of East Patchogue,” Foley said, anticipating the project. “This is a project that Focus East Patchogue and I have worked on for many years.”
Gregg Rechler, co-managing partner of Rechler Equity Partners, said the company is aiming for a late 2021 demolition. All buildings located at 293, 297, 299, 303, 306 and 311 East Main Street will be removed during the demolition. The new site, he said, will include 91 apartments in total, with pricing to be determined.
“We are excited to be the first major project in East Patchogue’s redevelopment and continue the economic renaissance happening beyond the borders of the village,” Rechler said. “Greybarn East Patchogue will provide a housing option that will serve as an asset for the area, thanks to the community partnerships with the Town of Brookhaven, and especially Focus East Patchogue, that will ensure a successful revitalization.”
The owner of 293 East Main Street in East Patchogue and Mediterranean Manor, Evan Abazis, spoke briefly on the proposed project, anticipating the revitalization of the area.
The Manor has been a staple of the community for over 57 years and officially closed its doors this August. Though he has been anticipating selling the buildings for some time, he said that closing for over a year and a half due to the pandemic “didn’t help.”
“There were so many factors and different circumstances that fell into place that made it way beyond my ability to correct or control,” he said [in June] of repairing for demolishing the abandoned building. “The buildings are being left a result in anticipating better things; the best is truly yet to come.”
Still, the redevelopment will inevitably misplace Sal's Barber Shop, which has occupied that space for over 40 years, while locations like the neighboring Miller’s Mint will remain.
“I am still looking,” Sal Bademci, 67, said, explaining he originally thought he had to move out by Aug. 31. “I think I have time; I don’t know why I am being rushed out. I hope I find a place; I would be out tomorrow. I can’t find a place.”
Part of the reason, he explained, is the rent is very reasonable in his current location. He currently pays under $2,000 for a small space on Main Street. He also hopes to stay local, nearby his clients.
“I have a lot of customers,” he said, not ready to retire. “I love my job.”
“A lot of happy customers,” added a customer getting a haircut in the background.
According to Foley, he has been working with Bademci to find him a new home, though he felt he has time before demolition.
The local Focus East Patchogue civic group is also behind the redevelopments. Civic president John Quatrale said the proposed projects fall in line with the overlay and East Patchogue corridor study completed by the county last year.
“We are absolutely behind the plan 100 percent,” he said during a conversation in June. “We hope this will [attract] other projects which are consistent with the overlay and corridor study. We are thrilled to be moving forward and for whatever else might come.”
In addition to the redevelopments, Quatrale also hopes to see the former car dealership, located next to the Swan Lake Preserve, finally receive its finishing touches. The small slice of land, formerly home to Famiglia Motors and Taillight Motors prior to that, located at 550 East Main Street in East Patchogue, was acquired for open space in 2019.
The county, according to Suffolk County Legislature presiding officer Rob Calarco, was interested in that lot for preservation since requesting to purchase it back in 2012. At that time, the property owner was not interested and declined an appraisal. But since Famiglia Motors vacated the property in summer 2018, Calarco reapproached the owner, who was then willing to sell. Foley said the town would be making the lot part of the preserve as part of the 2022 budget, with the potential to add an attraction like a gazebo.
“East Main Street and East Patchogue is the gateway to the village,” said Patchogue mayor Paul Pontieri in support of the project. “An investment like that can’t do anything but help the village.”
Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce executive director David Kennedy agreed, calling the project a natural extension of the village.
“I think one of the things that made our downtown revitalization so successful was feet on the street,” he explained. “This is a foundation; it worked here, and I think it will work there.”
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