From left: crowds outside the Sloppy Tuna and the Surf Lodge in Montauk

The Hamptons’ posh tentacles are stretching eastward, according to the Wall Street Journal, as once low-key Montauk is seeing continued growth in bars and night life. More than a dozen businesses have changed hands since last summer, as new owners look to revamp properties into destinations for the type of clientele typical of the Hamptons. It’s analogous to Manhattan’s gentrification spreading to the far reaches of the five boroughs. [more]

The Surf Lodge in Montauk, N.Y.

The end seems near for the ongoing saga at Montauk hotspot the Surf Lodge, the East Hampton Daily Star reported. On Monday, an attorney for the ownership group Edgemere Montauk LLC made a motion to dismiss the charges, which the Daily Star lists as now totaling 687. Robert Connelly, representing the city of East Hampton “conceded that a partial dismissal could facilitate a settlement,” the Star said. [more]

The Surf Lodge

The Surf Lodge restaurant and hotel was granted another adjournment for a court case focusing on the Montauk spot’s nearly 700 code violations, East Hampton Patch reported. There is now a new attorney on board to defend the restaurant.

“Motions, if filed, will be before April 16,” said Justice Catherine Cahill. [more]

Judi Desiderio, CEO of Town & Country, and Kathleen Beckmann’s office

Town & Country has acquired local Montauk brokerage Kathleen Beckmann Real Estate for an undisclosed amount, Town & Country announced today. Kathleen Beckmann Real Estate owner Kathleen Beckmann will join Town & County brokerage as of tomorrow, bringing with her three other brokers from her firm.

“Beckmann had a large portion of the market share of Montauk, even with a small amount of people,” Town & Country CEO Judi Desiderio said of her decision to acquire the company. Town & Country has eight Hamptons offices in total, including in North Sea Harbor, Bridgehampton and East Hampton.  [more]

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and her home in Montauk

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley’s home in Montauk has hit the market for $1.1 million, Curbed reported. The bungalow was designed in the late 1930s by architect Donald Deskey for the 1939/1940 World’s fair. The idea was to “overcome the public’s aversion to factory-built homes by using open spaces, new materials, and practical decor,” according to Curbed. The
500-square-foot property was built in the 1940s, but could be expanded because it’s on a .93 acre lot. Rowley already has plans for a 2,500-square-foot house, plans that she could share with the new owner. Rowley is likely to renovate and move into the property on Seaside Avenue in Montauk that she bought for $820,000 in June after the sale. [Curbed]
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From left: Stacey Barnds and Julia Stavola of Town & Country Real Estate and the docks site

A long-untouched swath of the Montauk fishing docks — one of the last remnants of the village’s sleepy past — is on the market for the first time in decades.

The half-acre waterfront site of Lenny’s on the Dock restaurant is now for sale, priced at $4.7 million. Julia Stavola of Town & Country Real Estate has the listing, which includes the 2,400-square-foot commercial building and 11 boat slips.

The property joins its next-door neighbor, Salivars Restaurant and Bar, on the market. The 3,649-square-foot Salivars building, listed for $3.95 million with Town & Country’s Stacey Barnds, has been on the market for about a year, but the availability of Lenny’s paves the way for broader changes in the area, opening up “a whole set of new opportunities” for buyers, said Judi Desiderio, the CEO of Town & Country Real Estate. [more]

The Montauk home

An American Institute of Architecture award-winning residential compound in Montauk has reentered the market for $29.5 million.

The oceanfront property at 230 and 234 Old Montauk Highway, which includes a 7,600-square-foot main house and 2,400-square-foot guest home, was on the cover of the Robb Report after it was built in 2006 and was featured in the New York Times.

The home was previously on the market for $35 million in 2007, according to Michael Schultz, a senior vice president with the Corcoran Group, who is marketing the listing with Susan Ryan, also a Corcoran agent. The property was temporarily de-listed, in part to ride out the rough market, Schultz said. He had been the original listing agent, along with Sotheby’s in a co-broker arrangement. [more]

Newly hip Montauk has just added another location to its roster of trendy, impossible-to-get-into venues: the Fort Hill Cemetery. The final resting place, which overlooks Fort Pond in the East End town, has grown so popular that Montauk has restricted it to town residents only, according to Dan’s Papers. The 30-acre cemetery will now be open to those who have paid Montauk taxes, as the 6,751-grave facility now has just 327 remaining plots. But there is a loophole for non-Montauk taxpayers — Fort Hill’s board of trustees reserves the right to vote a member in under special circumstances. [Dan's Papers]

Auctioneer Real Estate Disposition has scored a Hamptons beach house foreclosure auction. The 3,000-square-foot Montauk home will hit the block next week, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a region that has remained relatively immune from the foreclosure crisis. The three-bedroom, four-bathroom home was sold for $1.28 million in 2006 and has a starting bid of $379,000. This is the auction company’s first Hamptons-area foreclosure listing, according to a spokesperson, out of the more than 27,500 properties auctioned so far this year across the country. [WSJ]

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The award-winning Montauk house

A Montauk home has been awarded the American Institute of Architecture’s New York State design award, according to Curbed. The home, which was designed by Sag Harbor architects Bates Masi + Architects, was intended to “disturb the landscape as little as possible,” the award-winning team said. The house features a 1.6-acre lot, a swimming pool and 36-foot-long glass doors on several portions of the exterior. [Curbed]

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