Gosman's Dock owners list Montauk real estate portfolio for sale at $45 million

The owners of Gosman’s Dock in Montauk, a summer-season fixture of the seaside community, have placed their portfolio of properties on the market for $45 million, the second time they’ve tried to sell the complex in seven years.

The nine-property portfolio includes the well-known Dock restaurant, a 477-seat eatery on Montauk Harbor, as well as three other restaurants, six retail shops, four staff housing properties for seasonal workers, a wholesale fish and lobster business, a portion of vacant land and a 330-car parking lot.

The properties cover 48,145 square feet, and sit on 11.6 acres, according to marketing material from the brokerage.

“It’s a wonderful existing business that could use a refresh,” said Henri Kessler, commercial broker with Marcus & Millichap, which is marketing the portfolio.

Members of the Gosman family declined to comment on the sale of the properties. 

Kessler, who along with Michael Tuccillo is representing Gosman's, said the ideal buyer would be an operator with experience in running restaurants and retail shops. Zoning in the area restricts new development on the site.

Jennifer Fowkes, executive director of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce and Visit Montauk, called Gosman's Dock and the surrounding businesses an institution in the hamlet's tourism industry. 

The business has served as a major landmark for a community largely reliant on tourist dollars. 

Montauk has a year-round population of around 3,500 residents, though during the summer season, which goes from Memorial to Labor Day, the hamlet can see more than 125,000 visitors, Fowkes said. Taxes collected on hotel and motel stays during the season account for roughly a quarter of Suffolk County's total hotel/motel tax contributions in 2022.

“Gosman’s is a huge, huge draw,” Fowkes said. Beyond the historic Dock restaurant, the surrounding shops, including Summer Stock, SHINE, and Greenlines, also serve Montauk's small number of full-time residents. 

“You can get everything from kids toys, to Montauk memorabilia," Fowkes said. "I actually bought my wedding dress at Gosman’s."

The properties are zoned for waterfront, resort and central business uses. Due to the high demand for commercial real estate in Montauk, and limited supply, Kessler said portfolios like Gosman’s can command a higher sale price than they would in other parts of Long Island.

“The Gosman family has done a tremendous job,” Kessler said. Still, he said there is room for another operator to come in with a "whole new approach" to retail and food offerings. 

The Gosmans bought the dock property in 1950 and bought additional properties in 1958. The family restaurant business got its start as a chowder stand selling lobster rolls.

Prior to the family’s purchase , the site started as a fish packer for the Fulton Fish Market in 1943.

In 2016, the family put a slightly larger version of their portfolio on the market. It  included 14 acres and three motels, with an asking price of $52.5 million.  Only the motels were sold. 

The properties were  marketed by Hamptons brokerage Saunders & Associates, and later by Marcus & Millichap of Manhattan.

“We had a strong interest from potential buyers, but at the time, the family decided to hold, and then they sold off a couple of the parcels, the motel/hotels individually by themselves,” Kessler said.

The recent sales announcement also comes two years after Gosman family patriarch John Gosman Sr. died from complications of COVID-19-related pneumonia at 87.