Property Owners Seek Residents' Support To Build Hotel In Flanders

A new hotel complex complete with an indoor pool and restaurant could be coming to Flanders.

The Brewster House, a former inn located at 1380 Flanders Road, has sat in a state of disrepair for roughly 25 years. The Southampton Town Board is slated on Tuesday, May 10, to discuss whether to demolish the three-story building and charge the current owners, Jamie and Keri Minnick along with an equity group, for the demolition.

However, the owners, who purchased the 1.8-acre property 18 months ago, have been working on a plan to develop it, also asking for support from Flanders residents in getting the town to put off the demolition while an application to change the zoning can be finalized.

At the last two Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association meetings—most recently on Wednesday, April 27—residents have started to rally behind the property owners, and even signing a petition to delay the demolition, particularly after seeing proposed plans for what is tentatively titled the Brewster House Hotel.

This development can make Flanders less of a highway you drive through and more of a destination," Ms. Minnick said.

According to a website for the property owners, community members have suggested such features as an indoor pool that could be used by a local swim club, an indoor gathering place with trees, a meeting room, a small and stylish restaurant, a coffee shop, some kind of display chronicling the building's history, a garden/wedding space, and a tree-lined outdoor walkway.

Although they did not have a specific number, Mr. and Ms. Minnick told the community association that the hotel would have fewer than 100 guest rooms, as well as an indoor pool and a top-notch restaurant.

To get the roughly $8 million project off the ground, they said, they first need to file an application with Southampton Town for changes of zone, as the property is in two different residential districts. The application, Mr. Minnick said, is currently being worked on and with any luck will be ready to file in three months.

The 28-room former boarding house dates back to the 1800s. It was severely damaged by fire in the 1980s and left vacant at least since that time. It was purchased by Ms. Minnick and her associates, the Restoration Equity Group LLC, in February 2014. Details about their proposal and the petition are at restorationequitygroup.com.

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