Hampton Bays Civic Hosts Gregg Rechler, Canoe Place Inn And Townhouses Developer

The Canoe Place Inn was an eyesore in Hampton Bays for years. Only a handful of people could see through the wreckage and thought it could come back to life, developer Gregg Rechler told members of the Hampton Bays Civic Association on Monday night, adding, “Fortunately, we listened to them, and I’m glad we did.”

The civic association invited the managing partner of Rechler Equity Partners to present an update about the long-aborning property spanning both sides of the Shinnecock Canal. At the November 22 Zoom meeting, he offered a presentation with the title “Revitalizing an Icon.”

Gregg Recher and his cousin Mitchell Rechler have been working on the project — rehabilitating the Canoe Place Inn property, and building more than three dozen luxury townhouses across the Shinnecock Canal from the inn on Montauk Highway — for some 16 years, he said.

“Right now, we’re at a really wonderful place,” he said. “We’ve been able to find the history and beauty of this whole place that was lurking there.”

Originally, the partners looked to raze the old CPI and construct a townhouse community, but, faced with impassioned community opposition, the Rechlers decided to reclaim the historic building. “Development was the plan, but revitalization and preservation were the outcome,” he said.

The Canoe Place Inn, originally built in the early 1700s, was used primarily as a stagecoach inn and also served as headquarters for British soldiers during the Revolutionary War. After it burned to the ground in 1921, nationally renowned architect William Lawrence Bottomley redesigned the inn as a four-story elegant location for galas and events like weddings and proms. Reincarnated, the inn will boast a catering space big enough for 350 seated guests.

Built in 1921 after its historic predecessor at the site burned down, the current inn’s grand opening likely will take place during a centennial anniversary.

Taking the Zoom meeting attendees on a quick virtual tour of the inn’s faces through the ages, Rechler spoke of parties and weddings with the likes of Babe Ruth, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball in attendance during the 1950s.

The inn’s iconic rotunda was added on in later years and, the developer pointed out, the property was home to other structures, including barns and stables. Now, five cottages for guests are under construction on the site.

In later years, the property “started to go downhill,” Rechler said. The first floor was boarded up, the property was overgrown and there was “no respect” for the historical significance of the structure during its waning years as a nightclub.

Moving to present day, Rechler explained, “What Mitchell and I tried to do with our design team was respect all the different decades the inn has lived through. It lived through all these beautiful eras.”

Working with the award-winning design team, Workstead, a garden motif was developed. Such appurtenances as the carpeting in the ballroom that calls to mind a meadow, are featured. At the same time, original inn elements, like the fireplaces, were salvaged. “We were able to save all the fireplaces,” Rechler said, noting that the library’s fireplace is “one of the most beautiful.”

Creating spaces that live all year round was a priority for the developers. Throughout the presentation and the question-and-answer period that followed, Rechler repeated the developers’ desire to emphasize the year-round aspect of the project — they will hire locals and work with community organizations on offseason deals for uses of the spaces. They want to create ways in which pricing makes sense to the community, he emphasized.

Special offseason rates for locals may be considered and smaller, more intimate spaces may be used for offseason dining. The Rechlers plan to fund a scholarship for Hampton Bays High School students and set up a hospitality work study program for students.

Looking at the inn’s “big, beautiful ballroom,” Rechler noted that reconstruction maintained original design features like the shape of the room and its columns. He said management has already begun to book events and weddings. A nearby rotunda, the pavilion, he said “is gorgeous,” and may be used in different ways. It could be a pre-event cocktail space, or stand alone as an event venue.

“We don’t want to be known as the CPI,” Rechler informed, referencing the erstwhile nightclub. In a rebranding effort, the venue has been renamed Canoe Place Inn & Cottages, with logos that harken back to marketing pieces from the 1930s and 1940s. They depict “the soul of the place,” Rechler opined.

Overall, the developer underscored, the venture has been something that turned into a passion for the partners. “For us, it’s one of our most special projects,” Rechler asserted.

The goal is to open by the beginning of June, and the hospitality group is already booking events for July.

Looking at how the project confronted obstacles, then found new direction, Rechler noted that the 37 apartments on the eastern bank of the Shinnecock Canal in the portion of the district dubbed Hampton Boathouses, will become part of the overall hospitality plan for the venue.

The inn itself offers 20 guest rooms in the main building and five private cottages on the property. The addition of the Boathouse townhouses provides a variety of choices for guests, Rechler reasoned.

That wasn’t always the plan.

Just a year ago, the Rechlers pivoted from the original idea of offering the Boathouse apartments for sale — with the two-bedroom units marketed for sale at $1.5 million, and three-bedrooms listed at $2.15 million in 2019. Watching pandemic-prompted trends in the real estate market, by 2020, the Rechlers decided to lease the units. Two bedroom apartments were starting at $8,000 per month, and three-bedroom units started at $10,675 per month.

In 2021, the developers pivoted again; they will offer the apartments as guest accommodations as part of the overall hotel scheme.

The Hampton Boathouses’ origins stretch back to 2005, when the Rechlers purchased the Canoe Place Inn. They later bought the nearby canalfront restaurant and bar Tide Runners. In the application process for both properties, it became clear that the Hampton Bays community wanted Canoe Place Inn rehabilitated and saved, the Rechlers said in a 2020 interview. They’d restore the inn if they could build the waterfront townhouses.

Changed also is the public access plan on the east side of the canal. As part of the creation of a planned development district for the overall project, the Rechlers were required to provide a public benefit. The restoration of the historic inn was one benefit and the second was to be a walkway all along the east side of the Shinnecock Canal. With easements from the county and MTA necessary, but not swiftly forthcoming, the Rechlers have devised another map depicting public access. A “loop” walkway along the water will be contained on the Boathouse acreage, Rechler informed Monday night. “The canal is an important part of the project,” he affirmed.

Asked whether the firm has other projects planned for Hampton Bays, Rechler said they expressed interest in purchasing and developing the Bel-Aire Cove Motel property. Southampton Town purchased the blighted waterfront property in 2019, paying $1.06 million for 1.47 acres located at the tip of Penny Pond on Shinnecock Road. Supervisor Jay Schneiderman revealed a vision that entailed selling the property for development as luxury condos. Rechler emphasized on Monday night that the Canoe Place Inn and Cottages project is keeping the firm pretty busy. A decision on the Bel-Aire property has yet to be made.

Asked if the developers were concerned about the Shinnecock Nation’s plan to build a luxury resort nearby on their Westwood land, Rechler said, “It’s hard to know what’s happening.” The cousins are focused on creating something special and unique on their own site, he said.

Asked if, against the backdrop of existing restaurants struggling to find help, they anticipate issues filling their workforce, he said, “Everybody’s concerned about labor.” But, he added, “if you provide really good jobs, you do better.”

Work officially began on what was at the time described as $110 million project to restore and renovate the former Canoe Place Inn in 2018. With unanticipated challenges, like discovering there was no foundation under the building, the timeline, and the costs attenuated, Rechler said Monday night that the developers spent “six times” what they planned.