Stony Brook Medicine submits plans for Farmingville site once slated for Amazon Fresh

Stony Brook Medicine has submitted plans to the Town of Brookhaven to take over a vacant space in Farmingville, Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico confirmed Friday.

The property, at 3017 North Ocean Ave., was slated to become an Amazon Fresh supermarket but after construction was completed, those plans were canceled last year, Newsday reported.

Now, Stony Brook Medicine is eyeing a takeover and also additionally "proposing a new 30,000-square-foot medical building on the southeastern portion of the property along Horseblock Road," according to Panico's announcement.

Brookhaven Councilman Neil Manzella shared a Facebook post from Panico, and added in part, "To my friends in Farmingville, long overdue is an understatement."

Panico told Newsday by phone Friday morning that he thinks highly of Stony Brook Medicine, and that the Town Board "unanimously" tweaked their code to accommodate medical use for that building.

"We had a few ideas that came through the planning department, and none of them were really suitable for the community," Panico said. "Then Stony Brook Medicine, whom I've worked with in the past, reached out."

He added that Stony Brook officially submitted their plans a few days ago, but conversations with the healthcare network had been ongoing "over the last few months." The location is ideal, Panico said, because "North Ocean Avenue itself is the most well-traveled county road in Brookhaven Town." 

In a statement to Newsday, Stony Brook Medicine officials said, in part: "Following the success of our Commack and Lake Grove locations, we are continuing to expand our Advanced Specialty Care services to meet the growing healthcare needs of communities across Long Island, with Farmingville being our next planned location."

The property is owned by North Block Ventures LLC in Islandia. Art Garritano, a member of North Block Ventures, said that Panico and Manzella have been "instrumental" and that he is "very optimistic" about the process.

An "agreement in principle" has been reached with Stony Brook Medicine, North Block Ventures LLC and Stony Brook's real estate partner, JLL, according to Stony Brook Medicine's statement.

Amazon could not be immediately reached for comment.

As for a timeline, the supervisor told Newsday, "we could be ready for a hearing by the fourth quarter of this year."

The building spans 35,053 square feet, Newsday reported. Its Amazon Fresh construction was completed in 2023, and the building has since been vacant.

Panico received word from Amazon officials that the project would not be moving forward in January of last year, Newsday reported at the time.

In his social media statement, Panico said: "This proposal presents an opportunity to put this vacant property to productive use while bringing expanded medical services and significant investment to our community."

By Rachel Weiss

rachel.weiss@newsday.com@RachMWeiss

Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.