Six years after David Bowd and Kevin O’Shea purchased, renovated and opened the Chequit, it is on the auction block.
It joins The Dory as one of two well known Shelter Island businesses that announced they’re for sale this week.
New York City-based Concierge Auctions is handling the auction of the property and said the owners are looking for a minimum of $3.5 million.
They had purchased the property for a reported $3.35 million and invested a substantial amount of money renovating the premises. If bids were to come in lower than $3.5 million, it would be up to a company called APT Development that is now the owner of record to accept a lower bid, seek to negotiate with bidders or reject all bids, according to Project Sales Manager Bob Buttaro of Concierge Auctions.
The property will be marketed globally, Mr. Buttaro said.
Those wishing to bid have to register with Concierge Auctions and provide a $100,000 deposit that would be refunded if they fail to win the bidding. The registration process also requires a bank for the potential buyer to certify that funds are sufficient to complete the purchase should that person or company win the bid.
Between March 27 and 31, those qualified will compete with their bids online. But if past experience is any indication, it will be on the last day that bidding picks up, Mr. Buttaro said.
The highest bidder will become the winner and sign a contract with an expected closing within 30 days.
The Chequit was built by the local Methodist church to function as a dining room for the community when it was completed in 1872, according to the Shelter Island Historical Society. Twenty-two years later, it was converted into an inn called Bay View House and Bay View Hotel. In 1909 that name was changed to Chequit, a local indigenous name for weakfish.
In its heyday in the 1960s, members of the Kennedy family and Marilyn Monroe were among celebrities who stayed there. In 1978, CBS used the Chequit as the primary site for its mini-series, “The Dain Curse,” starring James Coburn and Hector Elizondo.
Ram’s Head Inn owners James and Linda Eklund purchased the Chequit in 1994 and sold it 20 years later.
The Dory is for sale
An Island institution is on the market for $3 million.
Dory owner Jack Kiffer said at 77 he’s ready to retire.
“I’ve been working since I was 11 years old,” Mr. Kiffer said. “I want to relax.”
Mr. Kiffer, who took over the Bridge Street watering hole in 2004, is the fifth owner of the place, which was built in 1925.
He’s had offers in the past to sell, he said, but was never serious about giving up the place where, when it’s open — which is pretty much all year-round — he’s in residence.
“Sometimes,” he said, “the Dory is the only game in town.”
If he doesn’t get a solid offer for the restaurant and bar, the place will stay open through the summer.
