George Filopoulos, Gurney's Owner Who Made Big Impression in Montauk, Dies at 54

Many in the Montauk community were left in shock this week by word of the death of George Filopoulos, the president and face of Gurney’s Resorts — a man with the Midas touch who had become a ubiquitous and integral part of many corners of the local scene in the 10 years since his company bought the former Gurney’s Inn.

He died on August 18 of pancreatic cancer, at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, his family said. He was 54.

After buying the former Gurney’s Inn in 2013, Filopoulos had quickly become a driving force in local business and one of Montauk’s largest employers, as he and his business partners spent over $150 million in the ensuing years acquiring and renovating some of the region’s marquee properties.

He also became a soaring figure for local community and environmental groups and charities, throwing his personal energy and substantial financial resources behind a variety of historic, educational and environmental projects.

Paul Monte, whose family had owned Gurney’s Inn since the 1950s, said that Filopoulos’s arrival on the Montauk scene, when he purchased the property in 2013, made an instant impression.

“He was one of the most astute businessmen I’ve ever met,” Monte said this week, recalling the complicated negotiations for the purchase of the property from the family who owned it and the dozens of time-share owners who had financial stakes. “He had a head for numbers and a talent for coming up with ideas about how to make things work that others had not been able to.

“And George understood the importance of Gurney’s to the community,” he added. “Beyond his own desire to be active in the community, he saw the role of it as a business, as an employer and as community support, and how important that was, and he didn’t hesitate to jump into all of the roles. He understood the responsibility that came with it.”

Monte said that Filopoulos’s aggressive growth of his holdings and the foresight with which he saw their potential for improvement put him in rare company. “He was such a driving force in the attention that Montauk has gotten over the last 10 years, I would almost put him in the category of previous Montauk visionaries like Carl Fisher and my uncle, Nick Monte.”

Filopoulos’s company, Metrovest Equities, purchased Gurney’s for $25 million. The company invested another $54 million in renovations that quickly made the new Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa a destination for wealthy summer visitors, shelling out upward of $1,000 per night for hotel rooms and thousands more to reserve day beds at The Beach Club, the resort’s sandy social scene.

In 2015, the company, and partner BLDG Management, bought the neighboring Panoramic View development from the federal government, which had seized it, for $70 million, and transformed the property into multimillion-dollar condominiums, now known as The Residences at Gurney’s Montauk.

In 2018, the newly branded Gurney’s Resorts bought the Montauk Yacht Club for $56.7 million and undertook a $13 million renovation. They sold it last year for $149 million.

Gurney’s Resorts also bought and renovated an island hotel in Newport Harbor in 2016 for $92 million and sold it in 2022 for $174 million. In 2021, the company bough the Camelback Mountain Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, now Sanctuary Camelback Mountain.

When Suffolk County proposed raising the tourism tax — which focuses largely on hotel room tariffs, Filopoulos represented the Montauk hotel community in appealing to the county legislators, not to oppose the tax but to plead that the money be invested in the infrastructure needed to allow the county’s most concentrated collection of hotel rooms, and the tax’s largest revenue generator, to operate.

As much as he invested in his burgeoning business ventures, Filopoulos invested time and money in the Montauk community. His donations flowed to a broad variety of community groups and projects. When the Montauk Historical Society wanted to create the Oceans Institute virtual aquarium at the Montauk Lighthouse Museum, a pitch hoping for a fraction of the cost turned into a donation of the entire $130,000 needed for the popular educational tool.

“He didn’t want his name on anything — he always shied away from public recognition,” the Historical Society’s director, Mia Certic, said. “He was funny and down to earth, and there was not an ounce of vanity in anything he did. He gave to the lighthouse tower restoration, very generously, and I never got to properly thank him. It is such a tragic loss.”

He joined the board of the Concerned Citizens of Montauk and was a full-throated supporter of the group’s environmental and community missions.

“He only ever thought about how he could be doing his best for Montauk — for its environment, for the community and for the residents,” said David Freudenthal, the chairman of the CCOM board, which Filopoulos served on for five years. “He was so modest and self-effacing, and he really believed in the things we were trying to do to push to improve water quality and coastal resiliency. And he, in his own quiet way, helped us do that better.”

Freudenthal recalled that Filopoulos would carry a trash bag with him when he went for jogs in the morning, picking up litter off the road as he went.

“It was a real honor to have been able to work with him, and to know him,” Freudenthal said. “It’s an incredible loss, for his family and for Montauk. There were so many people impacted by the good that he did.”

Gurney’s Resorts and the Filopoulos family announced his death on Wednesday.

“George leaves behind a professional legacy that will forever shape the real estate industry and inspire generations to come,” a statement on behalf of the family from Michael Nenner, the company’s executive vice president, said. “As we reflect on George’s life, we remember his innovative spirit, his dedication to excellence, and his unwavering commitment to making a positive impact. He leaves behind a thriving company that will continue to grow as a testament to his enduring legacy. While he may have left this world physically, his influence will forever be woven into the fabric of Metrovest Equities Inc., Gurney’s Resorts and the communities it touches.”

“George’s business acumen was matched only by his genuine compassion for others,” Nenner added. “He believed in the power of collaboration and was known for fostering meaningful relationships with partners, employees, and stakeholders. His approachable demeanor and willingness to listen earned him not only professional success but also lasting friendships that enriched his life.”

Filopoulos is survived by his wife and two children. The family has asked that donations be made in his memory to Project Purple, a pancreatic cancer research fund, at projectpurple.org. A private family funeral was held on Tuesday.

“It’s a real shame — he was taken way too soon,” Monte said. “He will leave a real void here, in Montauk, and in the business community all over the world.”