Shinnecock Economic Development Projects Are Still in the Works

For several years, the Shinnecock Nation had been working on bringing several economic development projects to fruition. Here’s a list of those projects, and where they stand:

Little Beach Harvest

Description: Tribe-owned cannabis dispensary on Montauk Highway. Little Beach Harvest is the first tribe-owned and -operated, tax-free cannabis dispensary in Suffolk County.

Status: Completed and operational, with grand opening in November 2023.

Shinnecock Monuments (electronic billboards)

Description: Two 62-foot-tall electronic billboards that feature paid advertising and other messaging were erected on tribal land on Sunrise Highway in 2019. The ad revenue generates income for the tribe.

Status: Completed.

Gas Station and Travel Plaza

Description: The Shinnecock Nation is planning to build a gas station and travel plaza on 10 acres of its Westwoods property, land it owns in Hampton Bays.

Status: In progress. Land clearing has begun, with a tentative projected opening in the spring of 2025.

Spa Resort

Description: The Shinnecock Nation wants to build a resort and spa on the northern end of its Westwoods property in Hampton Bays.

Status: In early predevelopment stages. Renderings were completed and released to the public in 2020 for a resort and spa situated on the northern edge of the Westwoods property in Hampton Bays, on the bluffs overlooking Great Peconic Bay. But Bryan Polite, chairman of the tribal council, said the nation is “nowhere close” to moving forward with that project.

Casino

Description: The Shinnecock Nation has, for years, been working on a plan to build a 76,000-square-foot casino with 1,000 video lottery terminals and 30 tables (limited to Texas Hold ’Em poker games) on 11 acres of its Montauk Highway territory just outside Southampton Village. The plan was approved by a tribal vote in December 2020 and approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Status: Remains in early predevelopment stage, still not site-specific. The Shinnecock are moving forward with the understanding that the casino likely will need to be located somewhere on their tribal land but have not abandoned efforts to find an alternative location.

Compiled by Cailin Riley