Southampton closes on sale of Bel-Aire Cove Motel

Southampton Town has closed on the purchase of a blighted Hampton Bays motel property that the town intends to prepare for redevelopment under a controversial plan to help revitalize the hamlet’s tourism economy.

The town board in April approved the purchase of the Bel-Aire Cove Motel — which operated as year-round low-income housing and received multiple code violations — and proposed building 12 townhouse units or a 22-unit boutique hotel.

Several developers had looked at the property, but the uncertainty of obtaining permits had deterred them from making an investment, said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, who proposed the plan in August 2018. Schneiderman’s idea was met with apprehension during public hearings from Hampton Bays residents who agreed the motel had long been an eye sore, but thought the property should be preserved as open space.

The town closed on the Shinnecock Road property Dec. 19, and the code violations were forgiven as part of the deal, town attorney James Burke said. The building’s tenants had been vacated before the sale, he said.

Town officials will work with community members to determine which plan they would prefer, Schneiderman said. The town intends to raze the building, but first wants to confirm Suffolk County will allow its current sanitary flow, he said.

“We’d like to take the building down at the earliest opportunity,” he said during a Dec. 19 town board work session. “But we want to make sure the county is recognizing the sanitary flow at the site.”

A March 2019 staff report from the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning said the project’s sanitary flow exceeded that allowed under the county's sanitary code and would need a variance. The report recommended against approving the redevelopment plan.

“The subject property is more suited to passive parklike uses including, storm water absorption, public waterfront access, kayak launching, picnicking, and other passive recreation,” the report states.

The town paid $1.06 million to purchase the property through a $1.2 million loan from the town’s general fund. It will repay the money once the property is resold to a developer. The loan also covered survey, closing and other costs.

Jag Jayaswal, whose family owns the property, has said he began renting the motel's 19 rooms by the month about five years ago after the closure of several nearby nightclubs cooled the summer party scene in Hampton Bays.

Members of the Jayaswal family could not be reached for comment about the purchase.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.