Developers Behind Canoe Place Inn Project Plan To Break Ground On Townhouses In June

Developers planning to build 37 townhouses on the eastern side of the Shinnecock Canal in Hampton Bays as part of the Canoe Place Inn restoration project are expected to secure the necessary approvals to break ground next month.

Last week, the Southampton Town Planning Board signed off on an updated site plan for the project by R Squared Development LLC, a division of Rechler Equity Partners LLC. It was the last hurdle to clear before securing the necessary permits from the Building Department to begin construction.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said on May 10 that cousins Gregg and Mitchell Rechler, managing partners of Rechler Equity Partners, expect to be able to break ground on the project by mid-June.

Jim Morgo, spokesman for Rechlers, confirmed Mr. Schneiderman’s statement. “It definitely pushes things forward,” he said of the plans being signed.

The developer plans to build 37 townhouses on the eastern side of the canal and restore the old Canoe Place Inn, a former nightclub complex, on the western side, creating a new 25-room inn. Additionally, the developer plans to build a 1,900-square-foot clubhouse and a 300-seat catering hall on the 5.6-acre property on the west side of the canal.

Special zoning for the Canoe Place Inn was approved by the Town Board in January 2015. It had been set to expire on January 21, three years after its adoption, but the Town Board granted the Rechlers a two-year extension earlier this year.

At the time of the extension of the planned development district—a zoning option no longer in town code—several members of the Town Board noted that the developers have “acted in good faith,” even though significant work had not yet started on either property.

Some demolition and clearing work has been completed, but a May 2015 lawsuit filed by a group of homeowners called the “Shinnecock Neighbors,” who oppose the project, hindered the developers from securing the necessary Suffolk County Health Department and town building permits to move forward with any construction. Most of the complaints filed by the plaintiffs ultimately were dismissed by the courts.