Landlord: Whole Foods is a Candidate to Occupy Former King Kullen Spot in Mt. Sinai Shopping Center
A representative of United Properties told Long Island Restaurants recently that the landlord is trying to negotiate with Whole Foods to come to the shopping center in Mount Sinai off of Route 25A to take over the former King Kullen space.
George Mangakis, a property manager at United Properties, said that they were seeking to attract Whole Foods but he said right now they are “far from a done deal” in a phone conversation with LongIslandRestaurants.com, adding they were in what he described as “passive negotiations” with the Amazon-owned grocery store chain.
Mangakis said there were other prospective candidates for the space but those involved dividing the property. A gym and a pickleball court were two types of businesses that were interested in a subdivision of the space, which Mangakis said was hard to do.
Whole Foods would be an anchor tenant in the Mt. Sinai Shopping Center, taking up the entire 45,000-square-foot space.
The next nearest Whole Foods is in Lake Grove near the Smith Haven Mall off Route 347.
Mt. Sinai Shopping Center includes a mix of mom-and-pop businesses like The Wine Authority, Taco Island, Mt. Sinai Bagel and Rocco’s pizzeria along with national chains like Subway and UPS. A Rite Aide in the shopping center remains open after the drug store chain closed a number of locations when it filed for bankruptcy last year.
Back in 2017, East Meadow-based United Properties purchased Mt. Sinai Shopping Center in a $30 million deal. King Kullen occupied the property until it closed in 2019.
Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner, who represents the district, said residents are always asking her to help attract healthy food options to the area.
“Whole Foods would be a great addition to the corridor,” Bonner said.
Last summer it was announced that Trader Joe’s submitted an application to the Brookhaven Town Planning Department to build a grocery store in Miller Place about three miles away.
“Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s would compliment each other,” Bonner added.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
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