‘A big vacancy’ on Main Street

The approximately 55,000-square-foot structure at 199 East Main Street in Patchogue may be a tough vacancy to fill once Burlington’s lease ends in March, as the department store announced a planned relocation to Sunrise Highway. Patchogue Village mayor Paul Pontieri said that Burlington departing from Main Street is a loss on multiple fronts.

“I think it served the community well, and it is going to be tough to come up with something to replace something of that size,” Pontieri said, continuing on to point out how the retail industry is currently facing financial hardship. “It is a big vacancy.”

The property has historically housed department stores, first the BeeHive in the 1960s and then Mid-Island Department Store. Glen Levin has owned the property since the structure was constructed. Burlington opened at the location in 1993.

“[Burlington has] had tremendous business on Main Street for 26 years,” Levin said. “They have sold a tremendous volume at a very inexpensive occupancy.”

Levin and Pontieri both expressed that COVID-19 and the economic shutdown earlier in this calendar year have had a significant effect on business on Main Street, including Burlington. However, the company has not publicized a reason for the 2.4-mile move.

“The pandemic hit, along with the ‘Amazon Effect,’” Levin suggested, continuing on to point out Burlington's downsizing (more than half) and moving to a location visible from Sunrise Highway.

In terms of seeking a suitable replacement on Main Street, multiple invested parties mentioned the possibility of a food market or grocery store.

“I think that would be a great use for that space,” said David Kennedy, president of the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce. “It is the area of our downtown that needs the most work — nearing East Patchogue, as we want to expand our downtown in that direction.”

Pontieri and Levin both posed the idea of offering portions of the building to tenants, perhaps one tenant upstairs and one downstairs. Kennedy concurred.

“It won’t be easy to subdivide, but renting out to the Patchogue Arts Council, [for example] could allow space for local artists,” Kennedy said, referencing the amount of businesses and artists setting up shop at Alive After Five events that would benefit from brick-and-mortar.

Dennis Smith, executive director of the Patchogue Village Business Improvement District, agreed that dividing the space could serve as a suitable replacement as well as an opportunity for Main Street in Patchogue. Smith expressed that there is a sort of “disconnect” once passing the Capital One Bank heading eastward, suggesting that the Capital One Bank marks the eastern border of downtown Patchogue to many shoppers and residents.

Smith further suggested that filling the vacancy has the potential to bridge that “disconnect.”

The idea of a hotel on Main Street arose, though that option would call for a significant construction job, considering the existing two-floor rectangular-prism structure.

Levin, the village, the chamber and other interested parties are eager to learn of a potential renter for the all-glass front structure on Main Street, which Burlington is planning to move from in March, once their lease ends.

“We just need one person to rent it,” Levin said. “It would be a shame to have a boarded-up building of this size in the downtown.”