Demolition Begins at Montauk's East Deck
Much of a piece of pre-gentrified Montauk came tumbling down Friday, as a wrecking crew began demolishing the iconic East Deck Motel. By quitting time, half of the L-shaped structure that had stood along DeForest Road was gone, leaving only the portion on the road that leads to the beach access still standing.
By Monday afternoon, that will be gone, too. Also gone is the swimming pool on the property, as well as any accessory structures that once stood there. Soon, the motel, which was a favored haunt of surfers over many generations, could be replaced by four multimillion-dollar beachfront houses.
It is owned by a limited liability company headed by J. Darius Bikoff, one of the founding partners of Vitamin Water, and is flanked on either end by dilapidated jetties that the L.L.C. also owns. The western jetty, shooting out into the Atlantic, is familiar to tourists and residents alike, who crowd the popular Ditch Plain beach. The eastern jetty was covered long ago by sand. Town law prevents either jetty being reconstructed or refurbished.
The East Hampton Town Zoning Board approved the necessary variances needed to create four new lots out of the property. There may be much wrangling in the future in front of the Z.B.A, as well as the town’s planning board, in terms of what the owners who buy the properties from the L.L.C., are allowed to build on the lots, which are highly constricted due to dimensions and proximity to wetlands and dunes.
The property was purchased by the L.L.C. in 2013 for about $15 million. The owners originally proposed a massive private club sitting adjacent to one of the most popular surfing beaches on the East Coast. That created a firestorm of opposition, and the plan was soon scuttled. They then put the site on the market for a reported $25 million. East Hampton Town officials, who negotiated for a town purchase, decided the price was too rich for its pockets.
In February, at the owners' request, the East Hampton Town Board changed the zoning of the property from resort to half-acre residential, in keeping with the surrounding area. That allowed owners of the property, renamed Montauk Colony, to pursue their current plan.