Whole Foods project breaks ground in Mount Sinai redevelopment

Excavation and heavy equipment have taken over the former Mount Sinai Shopping Center, marking the first visible signs that the Whole Foods redevelopment along Nesconset Highway is finally moving. The project at 5499 Nesconset Highway has shifted from approvals and renderings to active construction, with a Coming Soon Whole Foods Market sign now posted at the site.

Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner joined project representatives at a groundbreaking ceremony on June 15 at 5507 Nesconset Highway, where the redeveloped plaza is being built under the Crystal Brook Corner name. Regency Centers said the project is a roughly $15 million overhaul of a 12,200-square-meter property, with construction expected to take about 18 months. Brookhaven Town approved the site plan in December, a required step before construction and site improvements could begin.

Regency has described the center as a “daily-needs destination,” and the new Whole Foods will serve as its anchor tenant. The company said the redevelopment will include façade upgrades, parking lot enhancements and a broader re-merchandising strategy aimed at modernizing the shopping center along the busy NY-347/25A corridor near Port Jefferson.

For Mount Sinai, the change is as much about what has already disappeared as what is now going up. The former King Kullen space had sat vacant since June 2019, leaving a prominent retail corner underused for years. Nearby tenants in the plaza have included Rite Aid, Subway, Rocco’s pizzeria, Chase Bank, a liquor store, a jewelry store and a nail spa, all of which sit within a center that Regency is trying to reposition around a grocery draw.

Whole Foods’ new Holbrook store at the Shops at SunVet opened March 5 as the company’s eighth Long Island location. The Mount Sinai store is expected to become the chain’s ninth on the island, adding another high-end grocery option just as Amazon has pulled back from its broader physical grocery push, closing 57 Amazon Fresh supermarkets and 15 Amazon Go stores nationwide, including the East Setauket and Oceanside Amazon Fresh locations.

Regency bought the Mount Sinai Shopping Center in February and renamed it Crystal Brook Corner, part of a broader bet that a major grocery anchor can help revive the property. Whether it becomes a true shopping shift for North Shore residents or mainly another sign of investment along Nesconset Highway, the construction now makes the timeline real after years of waiting.