Hampton Watercraft and Marine buys prominent Babylon marina

Long Island boaters will once again have access to a prominent marina on the Great South Bay after an East End operator purchased the property following its previous owner's legal troubles.

Hampton Watercraft and Marine purchased five properties along the Babylon Village waterfront on Post Place and Fire Island Avenue, marking its fourth Long Island location and first in western Suffolk County. 

Owner Tony Villareale, a lifelong Hampton Bays resident, said he fell in love with the village and the marina's view of the Robert Moses Causeway when touring the property. He said the marina's services will open gradually, starting with winter storage next month.

"We plan on selling, servicing, docking, storing, repairing — every aspect of the marine business we're going to do there," he said. 

Hampton Watercraft purchased the properties in July from investment firm Bridgehampton Equities, which saw value in the property remaining a marina, said Jason Zimmerman, CEO of Bridgehampton.

“Waterfront properties — they’re not making more of them,” Zimmerman said. “Because it’s a marina, it’s got that constant cash flow and solid recurring income.”

Zimmerman declined to disclose the July sale price to Hampton Watercraft, which is not yet reflected in property records.

He considered combining neighboring properties to build condos, but the additional acquisitions and zoning change needed meant the process would have been lengthy and expensive, Zimmerman said.

As more marina space gets purchased for other uses, such as condo buildings, it’s positive to see this site continue to serve boaters, said Rose Worthy, a real estate agent who specializes in marina sales.

“The boating industry is a huge part of why people choose to live on long Island and pay the taxes here and the high home values,” Worthy said. “The more marinas we can preserve, I think it’s going to better suit the Long Island economy.”

To that end, Suffolk County created a waterfront protection program last year, allocating $9.5 million over three years. The program pays commercial property owners who agree to forgo any future development of their land beyond its current use.

Other recent marina transactions include the April sale of Port of Egypt Marine in Southold to yacht manufacturer The Hinckley Company for an undisclosed price and Southampton Town's $7.5 million purchase of Redwood Anchorage Marina in Sag Harbor in January.

The Babylon properties span nearly 1.6 acres and have about 1,400 feet of dock space that can accommodate about 46 boat slips and 10 Jet Ski slips as well as winter storage capacity for about 35 boats, according to Bridgehampton Equities.

There are six structures with a combined 11,000 square feet of space that includes a sales office, a marine repair building, a three-story office and apartment building, and several additional apartments.

Complicated sale

Bridgehampton had purchased the five properties for $4 million in June from Rory Hogan, owner of Riteway Marine Solutions, who pleaded guilty in November to grand larceny and a scheme to defraud. 

Suffolk prosecutors had alleged Hogan took possession of boats to sell for clients but failed to pay them hundreds of thousands in proceeds, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

In June, he was sentenced to 5 years’ probation and paid a combined $477,000 in restitution to six victims, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said. 

In an interview Tuesday, Hogan said personal troubles led to the business deteriorating. 

“It snowballed into a mess,” Hogan said.

To complete the sale, Hogan had to resolve civil litigation, including a foreclosure on the properties, as well as a bankruptcy, court records show.

Bridgehampton closed on the sale just days before a potential foreclosure auction was slated to take place. 

Hogan said he has paid more than $1 million in restitution and has now returned to selling and repairing boats as Riteway Marine Solutions in Babylon near his former properties.

“I’d like to build the business back up,” he said.

The change in ownership offers an opportunity to revitalize a waterfront stretch of Babylon Village, home to several restaurants, The Piermont catering hall and a village-owned dock, said Richard Buono, a commercial real estate broker at Island Associates, who arranged the sale.

The location, with access to Great South Bay and Fire Island as well as a Shell fuel dock, helped sell the property, but the legal issues surrounding the property made it a complicated transaction, he said.

“Marinas don’t come up often on the market and when they do they usually have a very short shelf life if they’re operating at their best and highest output,” Buono said. “This one not having any business for over a year made it very difficult to sell."

As he ramps up the new location, Villareale said he hopes to join and contribute to several community organizations and get the Babylon marina involved in his company's annual Take a Vet fishing event, which will be held Sept. 20. 

"We're the new guys," Villareale said. "We know that we need to earn our stripes there, and I just ask for a little bit of time."

By Jonathan LaMantia

jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com@jonlamantia

Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.