Gosman's For Sale
$55,000,000 Is The Price Tag For This Historic Business
By David Lion Rattiner
There is an 11-acre waterfront compound in Montauk that is just as synonymous with the word Montauk as fishing is. Gosman’s has been a part of the Montauk community since 1943 and tourists from all over the world stroll around the complex, enjoying some ice-cream, buying a t-shirt or two and making a dinner reservation at the waterfront restaurant.
The Gosman family runs the joint, as everybody in Montauk knows.
The business has stayed in the family since Mary and Robert
Gosman first bought the place, using money they had saved
as former fish packers and as agents for Fulton Market more
then
half a century ago.
So it came as quite a shock to Montauk, the Town of East
Hampton and even Manhattanites when they learned that the
entire complex
of Gosman’s is on the real estate market. The asking
price is $55 million.
You may remember the rumor last summer that somebody made
an offer on the property and it was being considered
by the Gosman’s.
Everyone around town was talking about it. You’d be having
a cup of coffee at the Montauk Bake Shoppe and hear somebody
say, “Hey Joe, did you hear about Gosman’s? Somebody
made an offer to buy it. I don’t know who, but I heard
it was pretty big.”
And then Joe would say, “It doesn’t matter how
much they offer. The Gosman’s will never sell.”
And that is what happened. It was, however, surprising
to some that the price was a number that made the
Gosman’s even
hiccup at the thought of selling.
Now it is official, Gosman’s is on the market. And although
there are no offers, none that we know of anyway, the asking
price of $55 million pretty much ensures that it is going to
be a long sales process. That is just fine for anybody that
likes to head out to Montauk from time to time.
This is not the only enormous piece of property
for sale in Montauk. There is also the Eotheon
Estate,
where Andy
Warhol
and the Rolling Stones used to stay, on the market
now for $40 million, it was recently reduced
from $50 million.
Then
of course there was the recent sale of the Shepherds
Neck Inn, a hotel complex in Montauk that went
for $11 million
and Deep
Hollow Ranch, which has also been on the market
for $17 million.
While the property of Gosman’s is intensely beautiful
and from a physical perspective is worth every penny, it is
the story of the American dream that makes it so attractive
to so many. The fact that the family has been there for so
long and the hard work, literally the blood, sweat and tears
that was put into the complex and can be noticed by the hand
painted signs, probably painted by a Gosman, that makes it
so special. They made it into something that corporate America
would be jealous of, but didn’t take the corporate dollars
to build. Gosman’s was built by the Gosman’s, not
from a blue chip and that is going to be the part that will
be missed most.
East Hampton Town Supervisor William McGintee
reportedly said, “It
would be a shame to see it go,” which pretty much sums
up what people are feeling about the news.
On the other hand however, everything changes,
and building a business from a little lobster
sales shack
into a world
renowned resort location deserves reward.
The family deserves what they
get for it, because, they are quite a family.
The Gosman’s may not like the spotlight very much, but
they do a lot in Montauk and it is all done in this sort of
quiet way. Gosman’s is one of the largest employers of
Montauk and supports just about every local cause that Montauk
has, and Montauk has quite a lot. They have a reputation for
being a humble, community oriented family and the impact that
they have made on the Montauk economy and community is huge.
There is also no need to worry, Gosman’s isn’t
gone yet, and this summer they plan on staying open and running
the family business just like they have always done for three
generations. The dock, the fish market, the four restaurants,
five retail stores and two motels will all be up and running
beginning April 27 and it would make sense, when somebody does
buy it, to keep it similar to the way it is now.
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