The $39 Million Bet on Water Mill — A Record-Breaking Retail Deal Is Largest Ever in the Hamptons

Inside the Record-Breaking Retail Deal That Signals the Next Era of the Hamptons

For years, Water Mill has been sort of in the middle of the Hamptons scene – not as showy as Southampton, not as full of celebrities as East Hampton, and without the immediate fame of places like Bridgehampton or Sag Harbor. But lately, things have started to change.

The farm fields are still around. And yes, the traffic is definitely still a problem. But the shopping areas, which used to be just quick stops for coffee, food, and chores, are now being turned into fancy places meant for richer people who live in the Hamptons all year.

This change hit a big new point this week when two of Water Mill’s most important business spots sold for $39 million: Water Mill Square at 670 Montauk Highway and The Mill at 760 Montauk Highway. This deal, handled by HCRE – that’s the Hamptons Commercial Real Estate Team at Compass, with Hal Zwick and Jeffrey Sztorc in charge – is now officially the biggest retail sale ever in the Hamptons.

Together the properties represented 84% of the Gross Leasing Area of the town of Water Mill. “This is one of the best assemblages I have ever seen created and sold,” said Hal Zwick.

Together, these two places make up about 84 percent of all the rentable business space in Water Mill. That’s a huge amount of shopping power in an area on the East End that’s changing really fast.

This deal is a big deal, not just because of the high price, but because it shows how the money side of things in the Hamptons is changing.

For a long time, when people talked about Hamptons real estate, they mostly focused on homes – huge oceanfront estates, fancy mansions built on speculation, old houses to tear down, and incredibly expensive estate sales. Business properties, especially shops, just kind of stayed out of the spotlight.

That’s not how it is anymore.

The Hamptons have been changing more and more from just a place people visit in summer to a fancy, year-round community. It’s now home to full-time residents, people working remotely, a big wellness trend, small, unique hotels, and wealthy folks who own second homes and are spending more time on the East End than ever.

Investors have definitely noticed this.

These two places in Water Mill are right on Montauk Highway, which is one of the busiest and most noticeable business roads around. Being there gives them something that’s getting harder to find in the Hamptons: a good size, easy access, plenty of parking, and the chance to create a whole shopping experience instead of just renting out single shops.

Water Mill Square, which is a 20,500-square-foot shopping and office center on about two and a quarter acres, has for a long time been a main business spot in the area, with various shops offering services, food, and lifestyle items.

The Mill, which is over 29,000 square feet on almost four acres, has been carefully changed over the past few years. It’s now a shopping and lifestyle spot, focusing on food, interactive shopping experiences, and thoughtfully designed outdoor areas.

Getting these properties together took years.

Benjamin Rinzler, who owned Water Mill Square for a long time, teamed up with Robert Zecher in 2023 to buy The Mill. This basically brought two of the most important shopping properties in the area under one plan.

Their plan wasn’t just about owning things. It was about changing what Water Mill’s business scene looked like.

Rinzler explained that the project tied into a bigger, long-term family idea.

He mentioned, “When my father Milton and I bought Water Mill Square, we had this idea to bring new life to Water Mill; to make it a place for experiences and culture. I’m excited to see the new owners keep this vision going.”

That way of talking – about experience, culture, and destination – shows what’s generally happening with real estate all over the East End.

People who shop in the Hamptons today aren’t just after fancy products anymore. They’re looking more and more for carefully put-together places: shops focused on well-being, better food experiences, stores with good design, outdoor areas for meeting up, and places with a mix of uses that feel like social hubs, not just malls.

A lot of people think The Mill really shows this change best.

Instead of being a regular shopping plaza, this property has really gone for experiences that make people want to stay longer. This is similar to what’s happening in rich areas across the country, where developers aren’t just competing with stores next door, but with how easy it is to shop online and how people’s habits are changing.

What really makes the Water Mill sale stand out is when it happened.

Nationally, the bigger commercial real estate market has been pretty shaky because of interest rates, empty office buildings, and how shoppers are changing. But fancy shops in very rich neighborhoods have actually held up surprisingly well.

In the Hamptons, there aren’t many properties available, and strict rules make the market quite tight. There are only so many good spots for businesses along Montauk Highway, and finding chances to buy several important properties together is very unusual.

Zwick said, “This deal clearly shows how strong the Hamptons retail market is. Properties that are this visible, have good tenants, and promise growth for a long time are super rare. And getting a record-breaking sale like this tells us a lot about both how good these properties are and how much investors still want them.”

The deal also highlights a bigger truth about the East End’s economy: the Hamptons isn’t just a fancy vacation spot anymore.

It’s more and more becoming a complete lifestyle economy.

More people are living here all year. Fancy homes keep being built. Wellness companies, hotel groups, and stores that offer experiences are all fighting for a limited amount of prime space. And investors seem more and more ready to put their money into the Hamptons for the long haul, seeing it as a lasting luxury market, not just a summer one.

For Vault Development Partners – the real estate investment and development company in the Hamptons started by Robert Zecher and Benjamin Rinzler – this deal shows both the successful completion of a smart grouping of properties and a peek at the wider chances popping up all over Eastern Long Island.

The company usually works on smaller to medium-sized projects and carefully manages properties that bring in cash across New York City and the East End. They look for investments where they can add value or find good opportunities, and sometimes they go for more stable, high-quality properties too.

But putting aside all the figures, the Water Mill deal might eventually be remembered for something you can’t really measure.

It’s the point when Hamptons shopping properties stopped being seen as less important than Hamptons homes – and started getting treated as a serious type of investment on their own.

In Water Mill, at least, things are already changing.

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