CVS Hopes To Be A Tenant In Bridgehampton Gateway

CVS Pharmacy no longer plans to open a store on a corner of Bridgehampton’s busiest intersection, a spokesman for the company said on Friday.

Instead, the company is negotiating a lease for a building at the Bridgehampton Gateway, a proposed mixed-use planned development district slated for the empty lot on Montauk Highway across from the Bridgehampton Commons.

According to Michael DeAngelis, director of public relations for CVS, the pharmacy giant terminated its lease agreement for the building that is slated to go up at 2510 Montauk Highway, at the eastern end of the hamlet’s business district. Mr. DeAngelis would not comment further about when the lease was terminated, or if the company planned to try to open at a different location in the community.

Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, however, said on Tuesday that she confirmed with representatives from Bridgehampton-based Konner Development that CVS is negotiating a lease for a building at the Bridgehampton Gateway PDD, a special zoning district that permits uses that are otherwise not permitted under current zoning, after a state environmental review is completed.

Developer Carol Konner confirmed Wednesday that she was “far along” in negotiating a lease with CVS.

CVS will be the second known approved tenant for the Gateway, as there is currently a site plan before the town for an Equinox fitness facility that would also be part of the complex, which town officials said could be approved by the end of this year.

Ms. Throne-Holst, who was consulted many times by residents concerned about CVS’s original pick for a location, said she thought the new plan for the pharmacy was a better one. “I think it’s great,” she said. “Hopefully, that is sort of a happy outcome all around.”

The prospect of opening a CVS on the corner of Bridgehampton’s busiest intersection—where Montauk Highway meets Ocean Road, Lumber Lane, and the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike—was met with fiery opposition from residents when CVS announced just over a year ago that it had signed a lease with the owner of the property, BNB Ventures IV. Many community members claimed the store would make traffic and parking more problematic than it already is there.

CVS had an application before the Southampton Town Planning Board for a special exception permit that was required for the pharmacy to occupy the entirety of the 9,030-square-foot, two-story building going up at that location; it was originally designed for two separate uses. In November, the company filed suit against the Planning Board, asking the court to overturn the board’s decision to require an environmental review of the property before granting the permit, as the building itself, which was approved in 2011 for office and small retail use, had already undergone such a review.

While CVS’s lease has been terminated, the litigation is still open in State Supreme Court, although court documents show that the town has a pending motion to dismiss the case, with the next hearing set to take place Tuesday, June 16. Because of that, Vincent Messina, the Central Islip-based attorney hired by the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee to represent them in their fight against CVS, said BNB Ventures can still pursue another similar tenant.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” he said on Tuesday. “We’re hopeful that the entire situation would be resolved in a manner acceptable to the community.”

CAC Co-Chair Nancy Walter-Yvertes echoed Mr. Messina’s comment about the news. “We are cautiously optimistic that the corner will be developed in a way respectful of the hamlet’s character,” she wrote in an email on Saturday. She added that other community members hope to preserve the historic corner, known as the former site of Wick’s Tavern. “A subcommittee in cooperation with [the Bridgehampton Village Improvement Society] is seeking other ways to save the corner,” Ms. Walter-Yvertes said.

In the meantime, it remains to be seen when construction will resume at 2510 Montauk Highway. Work came to a halt shortly after the foundation was laid in the fall. Planning Board Chairman Dennis Finnerty said on Tuesday that he was not aware of why work had stopped, but he added that Wayne Bruyn, the Southampton attorney representing BNB Ventures, went before that board last week to renew the location’s site plan, as it had expired. The chairman added that Mr. Bruyn had not known himself when construction would continue. Mr. Bruyn did not return a call seeking comment.

And although the Planning Board extended the site plan, Mr. Finnerty said that might not be the case if the building is not completed before the next time it is up for renewal. “If it sat idle for another two years, we probably wouldn’t renew the site plan,” he said.