Billy Joel former property in East Marion on market for $3.9M

A 5.3-acre parcel of land in East Marion that once belonged to a larger piece of property owned by rocker Billy Joel is on the market for $3.9 million, according to real estate records.

The vacant land and its “super private beach and lagoon,” as the listing describes it, were part of about 90 acres fronting Long Island Sound that Joel purchased in 1985. At the time, he and then-wife Christie Brinkley were living in Lloyd Harbor and approvals had already been in place to build a 54-lot subdivision on the site.

A former owner, Harold Russel, 93, says Joel and Brinkley came by the property shortly before buying it. “We had a conversation,” says Russel, now living in Staten Island. “He asked about the property,” which Russel remembers as “absolutely beautiful.”

Joel eventually sold the property without developing the site, which is now owned by businessman Raoul Witteveen, who donated a portion for land conservation, says listing agent Joan Bischoff of Town & Country Real Estate. Two homes can be built on the 5.3 acres known as Cove Beach, but they “need to be green” and Witteveen “would like to have people who share his views on conservation, organic farming and leaving the world a better place for our children,” Bischoff says.

The land also can be purchased as two separate lots for $2 million a piece, Bischoff says.