Hedge Fund Backed Group Snatches Up Three More East End Marinas

The deep-pocketed owners of East Hampton Point and Shagwong Marina on Three Mile Harbor have purchased three more marinas around the East End, adding to the rapidly growing portfolio of properties acquired by billionaire hedge-funder Heath Freeman.

Freeman’s local company, EHP Hospitality, announced last month that it has recently acquired Prime Marina on the Shinnecock Canal, and the New Suffolk Shipyard’s two North Fork marinas, which total more than 300 boat slips between them and more than 10 acres of waterfront land, some of which has long been the subject of residential development proposals.

The addition of the new facilities now makes the group the largest marina operator on the East End and one of the largest on Long Island, with more than 500 in-water slips across five marinas under its control, and is about to become one of the South Fork’s largest restaurant groups, with at least five restaurants — actually two restaurants and three soon-to-be restaurants — and a bakery currently under its control.

The crown jewel of the trio of new marinas is Prime, which was known as Jackson’s for decades, at the southeastern end of the Shinnecock Canal in Hampton Bays.

The marina has 175 in-water slips, on-land storage for more than 125 additional boats, three boat-lifts, a full service marina and fuel dock and a ship store with a small restaurant.

Perhaps most tantalizing, its 5.2 acres include several hundred feet of south-facing waterfront shoreline on Shinnecock Bay, where the property has approvals for another three dozen additional slips and where previous owners have tried on a number of occasions to introduce condominium development proposals.

The other two marinas are in Cutchogue and New Suffolk. Both were previously owned by New Suffolk Shipyard. The New Suffolk yard has 60 in-water slips. The Cutchogue marina has more than 100 slips, a fueling dock and winter storage on 3.8 acres.

All three new marinas will be renamed after one of the group’s first local acquisitions, the Shagwong Marina on Three Mile Harbor, purchased from the estate of Ben Krupinski in 2020 — the same year Freeman purchased nearby East Hampton Point restaurant, marina and hotel.

Prime will now be known as Shagwong Marinas – Southampton, with similar constructions for New Suffolk and Cutchogue.

The group also runs boat charters and a “boat club” out of Three Mile Harbor, selling boat-sharing memberships that start at $20,000.

Last year, the group, which operates Si Si at East Hampton Point, purchased the former Harbor Bistro, next door, and renamed it Sunset Harbor, as well as the former Red Bar restaurant in Southampton Village and The Inn Spot in Hampton Bays.

The Southampton Village space is currently undergoing renovations and will open this year as Enchanté, which the group describes as “an opulent French bistro-inspired culinary experience.” The Inn Spot’s restaurant has been transformed into Crash Cantina, and the group has opened an Italian-themed bakery and sandwich shop in Montauk called Buongiorno.

Freeman, whose hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, owns dozens of newspapers around the country, has also purchased some centerpiece properties with development potential — including the formerly Krupinski-owned commercial property at the junction of Newtown Lane and Railroad Avenue that has been talked about as a potential mixed-use commercial-residential development site.

The group has also been rumored to have purchased the long empty former Top of the Wharf restaurant on Dune Road in Hampton Bays.