In May 2026, a partnership of Runyon Group and River Oaks Properties closed a $39 million purchase of Water Mill Square at 670 Montauk Highway and The Mill, the former Water Mill Shoppes, at 760 Montauk Highway. Together the two properties hold about 84 percent of the hamlet's leasable commercial space. That same month, a 29-year-old art dealer from St. Paul bought the Penny Candy Shop at 696 Montauk Highway for $1.15 million. According to 27east, the retail sales closed two days after the Penny Candy sale.
Both buyers have filed or described very different projects, but their plans point the same way. They want more small rooms where there are now fewer large ones, and they want facades that look older and more East End than what stands there now. Neither project shows visible construction yet as of early October. The tenant notices already sent show who will bear the cost of that direction.
The plan for 670 and 760
Runyon's principals started describing the project before the deal closed. On October 23, while the purchase was still in contract, Joseph Miller and David Fishbein appeared before the Southampton Town Planning Board. They proposed a more classical look for both properties: new color palettes, added dormers, replacement windows and doors, and updated lighting. Their reference point was the recent remaking of the Sagaponack General Store, which they called the kind of "appropriate" revitalization they wanted to repeat on a larger scale.
Miller explained why the strip interested them by comparing it with nearby downtowns:
"There are elements that tie Bridgehampton or [Southampton's] Main Street together. Water Mill, you have deteriorating tree wells, the buildings have been left, the landscaping hasn't been upgraded."
The two properties are getting different treatments. Miller called the brick building at 670 Montauk Highway "magical" and pointed to its small alleyways as places for more intimate spaces. At The Mill, the work centers on the 1-acre green at the middle of the property. Mattituck landscape architect Stacy Paetzel drew a preliminary scheme with a broader open center, denser planting at the edges, and a front buffer that separates the green from Montauk Highway without hiding it.
The biggest structural change is in the floor plans. Runyon said it would ask to divide some of the larger spaces at the former Shoppes, taking the count from 19 storefronts to 22. Miller told the board the requests would add no square footage and, as far as he knew, nothing outside current zoning. Board member Kate Fullam backed the idea. She said smaller spaces are more viable for small businesses and that she hoped the change could draw agriculturally focused tenants, since many farmers and food producers find retail space too expensive. Miller said the group had discussed small farmers-market-style stands on the lawn.
The partners described Runyon as a long-term holder. They said it still owns every retail project it has done in the last 20 years and rents to small independent tenants rather than corporate branches.
Where the review question stands
Miller also told the board, "We're nervous, to be honest with you." In other places the group works, he said, painting and landscaping are over-the-counter permits, and Runyon had gone into contract assuming the work would not need discretionary approval. Board member Jacqui Lofaro replied, "We've seen people come in saying they're going to repaint, and the next thing you know a whole wing of the building is gone."
That question is still open. By May 2026, the Water Mill Citizens Advisory Committee recorded a narrower scope: lighting, landscaping, paint, windows and doors, with no change to building footprints or parking. Some larger units could be split, and work was expected to start in September. The same minutes say the sculptures at 760 were not a permitted use, and the new owner removed them after the meeting. In June, Runyon told The Real Deal that it was not yet leasing and was working with the town and the CAC. It was aiming to start construction in fall 2026 and finish for summer 2027. The CAC's August 10 minutes still say it is unclear whether the exterior changes will need Planning Board review. As of early October, no public record or report confirms that renovation work has started.
Who pays for smaller rooms
The August 10 minutes show the first effects of the plan on tenants. Several businesses had been told they would have to move when their leases end. The Chinese restaurant had two years left on its lease. East End Blueprint had chosen to move to a new complex on Scuttlehole Road. Mudita and a Pilates business would not have their leases renewed, although both had been offered space at the other property for higher rent. The minutes list the post office's status as unclear.
Most of those changes are announced but not finished. East End Blueprint's website still lists Suite D at 670 Montauk Highway. Alpina Bakery still lists the same address, open daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hampton Kitchen is still taking pickup orders. The research turned up no verified current tenant list for 760 Montauk Highway and no confirmed new leases at either property.
The address that is being restored
The Penny Candy Shop shows the same preference on a much smaller scale, and with a long history behind it. June Morris opened the shop in 1961 in the front of the property she and her husband, Harvey, had bought after he came home from World War II. She locked the doors in 2004. Dan Rattiner wrote in Dan's Papers on October 3 that the candy barrels, greeting cards, counter and cash register had stayed in place ever since. June Morris died in 2024 at age 96.
The new owner, Claire Foussard, has run small galleries in Manhattan, most recently one specializing in post-war Japanese art. She told 27east she had been looking for gallery space upstate when this property came up. She plans to restore the former store at the front, put a formal gallery in the rear, and keep the upstairs as the proprietor's residence, as it was for the Morrises. She hopes the project will be done by summer 2028. When word of the sale spread, she saw Instagram comments hoping the buyer wasn't private equity or a billionaire. Her reply to 27east was, "Nope, it's just a 29-year-old girl from Minnesota."
The project went to the Planning Board as a work session on July 23, 2026, under PB-2026-764. The agenda lists a 5,636-square-foot parcel. In July, the CAC recorded the plan as restoring and maintaining the facade, with an art gallery and two apartments. In August, the committee asked whether the property could get cross-access to Station Road. Rattiner writes that the plan "has been approved," but the town records reviewed for this post do not show a final decision or name the approving board. For updates, Foussard's site at pennycandy.art lists the 696 Montauk Highway address and asks for people's memories of the shop.
The new neighbors already in place
One part of the downtown change is finished. Watermill Crossing at 66 Nowedonah Avenue sits right next to The Mill. It has 38 cedar-shingled townhouses, 34 at market rate and four community-benefit units, built by JS Squared, the venture of Jeff Suchman and James Stanton. By the spring sales, residents had started moving in. That puts a new group of year-round neighbors within walking distance of the storefronts just as their owner is planning how to lay them out.
| Address | Owner since | Stated plan | Owner's target | Status, early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 670 Montauk Hwy, Water Mill Square | Runyon Group and River Oaks Properties, May 2026 | Exterior refresh, classical detailing | Summer 2027 | No confirmed construction |
| 760 Montauk Hwy, The Mill | Same partnership, May 2026 | Central green redesign, 19 to 22 storefronts | Summer 2027 | Review path unclear per August CAC minutes |
| 696 Montauk Hwy, Penny Candy | Claire Foussard, May 2026 | Restored front shop, rear gallery, residence upstairs | Summer 2028 | Planning Board work session held July 23 |
| 66 Nowedonah Ave, Watermill Crossing | JS Squared | 38 townhouses | Completed | Occupied |
This month along the strip
Fall traffic continues regardless of the renovation schedule. These are the dated items for the coming weeks:
- Edge of Woods Road: PSEG's Southampton-to-Deerfield transmission project scheduled conduit work starting the week of October 5. The road is closed to through traffic between 7 Ponds Towd Road and Watermill Towd Road.
- Water Mill Museum: The museum closes for the season October 11 at 4 p.m. Its annual meeting and quilt-raffle drawing is Tuesday, October 13, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
- Parrish Art Museum: Abstract Expressionism: The East End, 1940 to Today runs through February 14, 2027, with a curator-led tour October 23 from 3 to 4 p.m. Adult admission for the tour is $30.
- Hank's PumpkinTown: The season runs through November 1. Admission is $24 on weekends and holidays and $17 on weekdays, with pumpkins at 79 cents a pound.
Alpina Bakery and Hampton Kitchen are still operating this October. The next public sign of where the two Runyon properties are headed will come when it is settled whether the exterior work needs Planning Board review.
If you own property near Water Mill's commercial core and want to know how a remade downtown might affect your street, The Tunick Team follows these filings closely. Request a Private Hamptons Consultation and we will go through them with you.
