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Aquebogue motel is sold; will creek dredging follow?

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Dreamer's Cove Motel on the bay in Aquebogue

The Dreamer’s Cove Inn in Aquebogue was sold last Friday to a Greenport corporation that has a background in both commercial and residential development throughout the Northeast.

Real estate broker Kristopher Pilles of East End Luxury Ltd.’s North Fork commercial division said Saturday that Cove Place LLC closed the deal for the motel the previous day.

Terms of the deal were not available.

Dreamer’s Cove had been in foreclosure and was taken over by Flushing Savings Bank on Nov. 28, 2011. Residents who live near the motel have been concerned that the foreclosure would further stall efforts to dredge the mouth of the shoaled-in Cases Creek, a process that has been complicated by fears that the bulkhead owned by the motel is in bad condition and could collapse during dredging.

Cove Place LLC has a Greenport mailing address that is the same as that of the KACE Group, and Mr. Pilles said Michael Kontokosta, a principal in KACE Group, is one of the principals in Cove Place.

KACE Group has offices in Manhattan and Greenport and “specializes in real estate development and investment, urban planning and sustainable design,” according to its website, which also states the company owns, develops, operates and manages both commercial and residential properties throughout the Northeast.

The Harborfront Inn and the Sixty-Seven Steps Vineyard and Winery, both in Greenport, are among the company’s local projects.

Michael Kontokosta could not be reached for comment.

County Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) said the county is concerned about liability related to the bulkhead and believes that its poor condition is what’s causing shoaling at the mouth of the creek.

“Once the bulkheading is replaced, the county will dredge the creek,” Mr. Romaine said. “We’re not going to dredge where bulkheading is going to collapse and we’re going to be held liable.”

The county Department of Public Works is responsible for dredging on the East End.

Mr. Romaine said he plans to write a letter to the new owners of the property urging them to repair the bulkhead.

“I fully expect, knowing these people, that they are not going to let it sit there and that they will come in with plans to improve and upgrade that motel and then replace the bulkheading,” he said.

Mr. Romaine said the fact that there is no marina on the creek and that only about four or five families live there makes it difficult to justify the potential liability that could come with dredging it.

Jack Hansen lives on the creek and has been unable to get his boat in the water because of the shoaling.

“My neighbor finally got his boat in the water, they paid for a mooring,” he said. “I was going to get one but it’s just a waste of money.

“This creek needs to be dredged.”

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