East Hampton Bowling Alley To Become Retail Space

East Hampton Bowl, a fixture on Montauk Highway for decades, is inching its way to becoming a new retail space.

On Friday, the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals approved a request for a variance to exceed the village’s limits on lot coverage. The property’s new owner, Jeffrey Suchman, now can replace the current nonconforming, 14,000-square-foot bowling alley, which closed in 2013, with a slightly more modest 9,900-square-foot building. The lot coverage would also shrink from a little over 80 percent to 74 percent. The maximum permitted coverage is 60 percent, thus requiring the variance.

The proposed one-story building will house either one retail store or a group of shops, “and that hasn’t been determined,” said attorney Eric Bregman, who was representing Mr. Suchman before the ZBA. Mr. Bregman did not know what, if any, businesses had already expressed interest in the space.

The project is currently before the village’s Design Review Board, and while architectural plans are still being tweaked, the new structure would likely be somewhat traditional in style, with a peaked roof and made with “natural materials,” according to Mr. Bregman. “Parking would be along the side and the back, and the parking is conforming.” There would be about 50 parking spaces, plus two for employees, and access to neighboring retail shops may be incorporated into the final design plans.

“I think in the next couple of months the DRB will probably decide,” said Mr. Bregman.