North Fork land sale: Private equity CEO reportedly gets 110 acres for $23.5M

A private equity CEO has broken records with a $23.5 million purchase of about 110 acres on the North Fork.

Marc Rowan, the CEO of Manhattan-based Apollo Global Management, snapped up 17 lots in East Marion, The Real Deal reported.

The deal is the highest price sale for multiple parcels in one deal on the North Fork, said Joan Bischoff van Heemskerck, a real estate broker with William Raveis, who represented one of the sellers in the deal alongside broker Nicholas Planamento.

"It’s a huge deal," Bischoff van Heemskerck said. "These amounts of money are regular for the South Fork, but not for the North Fork."

The deal comes as the North Fork — traditionally thought of as a more rural, less-expensive enclave than the Hamptons — has seen a few eyebrow raising sales and rising prices since 2020. Jonathan Miller, CEO of the real estate appraisal Miller Samuel, expects to see more pricey sales in the area as would-be Hamptons buyers move to the North Fork.

"As the density in the Hamptons rises, with all the new builds and heavy sales activity over the last decade, the North Fork remains fertile ground," Miller said. "I suspect we’re going to continue to see high-end luxury development expand in the North Fork, because that’s where there’s more open space to compete for."

Past owners include Billy Joel

Dutch businessman Raoul Witteveen sold most of the parcels, some of which he’s owned since the 1990s, according to property records.

Witteveen preserved roughly 68 acres of the land, known as Cove Beach, from development through a conservation easement to the Peconic Land Trust, Bischoff van Heemskerck said. Witteveen no longer owns any property in East Marion.

Before Witteveen, Billy Joel owned a large swath of the land, once used as the site of a church summer camp, Bischoff van Heemskerck said.

Joel bought about 90 acres fronting Long Island Sound in 1985, Newsday reported. At the time, approvals were in place to build a 54-lot subdivision on 69 acres of the site, but Joel sold the property without developing it, according to a 2016 advertisement with Newsday offering part of the land for sale.

Unknown plans for parcels

Entities reportedly tied to Rowan, all limited liability companies beginning with "NFH JC," have been purchasing lots in East Marion since at least 2024, The Real Deal reported.

It’s unclear what Rowan plans to do with the property, and a spokesperson for Apollo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The billionaire has long been a fixture in the Hamptons, operating rental homes and restaurants. He purchased Duryea's Lobster Deck in Montauk for $6.3 million in 2014 and opened it for waitstaff service after a dispute with East Hampton Town.

Rowan's recent North Fork purchase comes after prices have steadily risen in the region.

The median price of a single-family home on the North Fork reached $987,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from $805,000 at the end of 2020, though it declined slightly when compared with last year.

The North Fork has seen other recent, high-priced deals. A Southold mansion and former vineyard, which sold for $12.35 million in January, broke records as the most expensive single-family home sold on a single lot on the North Fork, Newsday reported.

That followed another record-breaking sale of a Cutchogue mansion for $11.2 million in October and another for $8 million in June, Newsday reported.

But Bridget Elkin, an agent with Compass who sold the Cutchogue mansions and Southold home, said the area isn’t turning into the Hamptons just yet.

"There’s still a pretty big gap between the North and South Fork," Elkin said. "The Hamptons has just seen a different level of investment."