For real estate, pups, parties and pet projects define this Hamptons summer

Real estate eyes always turn to the Hamptons this time of year, as the wealthy — many from the industry — pack their towels and beach chairs and decamp to the East End of Long Island.

People aren’t the only ones that can summer in the Hamptons and winter in Palm Beach. Businesses go too.

Such is life for the group behind Mary Lou’s, a cocktail lounge, supper club and music venue hybrid that opened in West Palm Beach in January and has brought in high-profile customers, including Michael Jordan, Venus Williams, Baby Jane Holzer and Cornelia Guest.

The team of Alex Melillo, Joe Cervasio and Topher Grubb has since brought their concept to Montauk, partnering with West Palm Beach-based NDT Developers to expand into the space that formerly housed Johnny Marlin’s.

It could be the first of many summers to come on the East End for business.

Local single-family landlords wish the same couldn’t be said for man’s best friends.

Pets have descended on the Hamptons in the past year, particularly among renters. The rise of rental-seeking pet parents has struck fear in the hearts of homeowners afraid of damage to their white oak flooring, sheepskin rugs and designer chairs.

Hosts can choose not to allow pets in their homes, but at their own risk: If you don’t accept dogs, you might not find anyone to rent under your roof. 

“It’s a big challenge for homes that don’t allow pets,” Compass’ Yorgos Tsibiridis said.

More welcome are the Manhattan bigwigs building exactly the businesses they want to see in the Hamptons. Marc Rowan is among those to plant a flag in the East End business world, owning cottages as a hospitality play; the private equity billionaire spends his summers at an oceanfront Southampton estate. 

Rowan began buying properties in the area in 2013 with a Sag Harbor restaurant purchase, eventually expanded his local real estate portfolio to include motels and more restaurants, including Duryea’s, which he bought for $6.3 million from longtime owner Perry “Skip” Duryea in 2014. 

Rowan isn’t the only New York City real estate player in the Hamptons real estate market. BLDG’s Lloyd Goldman and Zucker Organization’s Donald Zucker have owned retail and commercial property on the East End for years. 

RFR’s Aby Rosen picked up the Southampton movie theater more recently, and Blackstone president Jon Gray’s wife, Mindy, reopened the Sagaponack General Store this season following a five-year, $12 million renovation. Lines for coffee stretch out the door.

And the Maidstone Gun Club in East Hampton, which voluntarily shut down in 2022 after bullets were reportedly seen near a construction site, is looking to renew its lease and reopen.

Local residents oppose the gun club’s return due to safety concerns and its proximity to homes, businesses and a preschool. But the club’s director argues that it has the right to renew its lease.