The former firehouse on Second Street will soon be home to a distilling company and tasting room.
Montauk Distilling Co., which will produce small-batch bourbon, vodka, gin and rum at the firehouse in a 3,800—square-foot, ground-floor space adjacent to North Fork Brewing Company in the firehouse. The space will include a tasting room with a maximum occupancy of 49 people.
A second brewery originally planned for the space — Long Beard Brewing Co.— did not move forward, property owner Bob Castaldi said today.
Company founder Leucio Iacobelli of Westhampton Beach and contractor Frank Somers, who built out the interior renovations of The Suffolk Theater as well as the 30 West Main and 20 West Main buildings, met with the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency board this afternoon to discuss plans for the firehouse._
Castaldi received IDA benefits for the project and needs the approval of the IDA board for a change in tenants.
They are close to getting a building permit, IDA executive director Tracy Stark-James said.
The IDA is required to monitor this and the lease must include provisions obligating the tenant to report annually, Stark-James said.
IDA member Lori Pipczynski said the distillery would create a nice synergy with the breweries in Riverhead.
“I love the gentrification that’s happening here,” Iacobelli said. I’ve been taking my wife around Riverhead and she said, What are we doing in Westhampton Beach?”
The startup has been making its products in upstate New York, near Buffalo. Iacobelli said he wants the company to be on Long Island for logistical reasons.
Iacobelli said he’s already obtained his federal permit and expects the permit from the New York State Liquor Authority to be issued soon.
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