News

Indoor golf simulator proposed for former newspaper building in Mattituck

North Fork duffers may soon get a chance to swing away in Mattituck — regardless of the weather outside. A building at 7785 Main Road — the former home of Times Review Media Group — is slated to become an indoor golf simulator facility, if applications pending before the Southold Town Building Department and Zoning Board of Appeals are approved.

The proposal, submitted by The Endless Round LLC, calls for leasing roughly 6,000 square feet of the 7,200 square foot building. Of that 6,000 square feet, the 4,000 square feet in the front part of the building would accommodate four separate golf simulator “bays” and common areas which would serve as a lobby, lounge and a general congregation area. The proposal calls for the LLC to lease 25 of the property’s existing 41 parking spaces.

The remaining 2,000 square feet would be set aside for development at a later date, according to a letter submitted by the LLC to the Town Building Department.

There are no plans to conduct any exterior alterations and “the golf simulator rooms merely require individual partitions for the computer/screen simulator,” according to a letter submitted to the Planning Board by Southold attorney Patricia Moore, who is representing The Endless Round LLC. 

The Town Planning Board, at their March 13 meeting, discussed a site-plan use determination on the project and decided that no further site plan is required. Board members noted that no expansion is being proposed and that the property already has an existing approved site plan.

The application before the ZBA seeks a special exception for “recreation use” of the building. Endless Round LLC is contractually obligated to immediately begin paying rent even though they can’t open until the ZBA approves the special use and the project gets approval from the building department.

The Endless Round LLC is comprised of Bryan Zissel, Daniel Hagerman and John Michael Peters. In her letter to the planning board, Ms. Moore describes them as “three boyhood friends, three local men with young families and creative energy to start a small business in Southold.”

Beyond running their businesses, the partners are members of a local fire department, park district and various community volunteer organizations, according to the letter. 

“They see this recreational use as a benefit to the community,” Ms. Moore wrote.

The business proposes to “generally” operate by appointment, after 5pm and on weekends, Ms. Moore’s letter states.

“Working families, from three-year-olds to seniors, all ages and physical conditions (group play or individual) can enjoy interactive recreational activities,” the letter said.

The plan includes a proposal to make the simulators available to local school golf teams during inclement weather.

Times Review Media Group operated out of the building for 34 years until October, 2022, when publisher Andrew Olsen relocated headquarters down the road to a new office at 7555 Main Road.

Joan and Troy Gustavson of Orient, the previous co-owners of Times Review, purchased the Mattituck property in 1986. In 2013, the couple formally transferred ownership to Mr. Olsen and his wife, Sarah. Times Review had been leasing the building from the Gustavsons. The building was sold to an LLC owned by Sukru Ilgin. 

Mr. Ilgin operates the Gulf gas station at 7400 Main Road as well as other Gulf stations nearby. The building had been listed by Richmond Realty and sold for $1,585 million in the summer of 2022, The Suffolk Times reported.