Improvements on the Horizon at Tudor Village Center

Inside Tudor Village Deli in Stony Brook, the grout is barely dry on the brand-new tiles which co-owner Mike Mancuso put in just this past weekend to update the deli's look.

Outside the deli, however, is a different story. Broken windows, cracked pavement, overgrown landscaping, chipped and discolored stucco, splintering wood, and graffiti mar the once-picturesque Tudor-style shopping center, built in the 1970s and situated on Stony Brook Road just north of Nesconset Highway.

Tenants at the aging Tudor Village Center say the shopping center is long overdue for the same kind of makeover its neighbor, the Coventry Commons, got several years ago.

"It's just run down," Mancuso said. "They're in the perfect location. A little renovation like they did in the front would be welcome."

The marketing director for the two shopping centers said multimillion-dollar improvements are on the way, and are simply awaiting permits from the Town of Brookhaven.

"Although sometimes it looks like it has been neglected, definitely we're behind the project. We're not walking away," said Bob Bakalis of 2350 LLC, which owns the properties at 2350 Nesconset Highway and is affiliated with Stoneybrook Realty, which owns the Tudor Village Center and Coventry Commons.

Bakalis said the current tenants at the Tudor Village Center can expect the new facilities to stylistically resemble the Coventry Commons, with upgraded landscaping as well.

"You have to go where the trend is," he said. "People like more modern buildings. It's more appealing. Larger windows, high ceilings."

The plans include a top-to-bottom, inside-out renovation of the building which now houses J&R's Steakhouse.

"Over the years, the appearance of the center has been anything but attractive," said Andy Stamatos Jr., manager of J&R's. "The new appearance will both be pleasing to the eye and inviting to the public."

Bakalis also said the planned redevelopment of the property will include a new twist on medical space to try and attract professionals from Stony Brook's medical community. The offices won't be divided into separate practices for individual doctors; rather, the space will be a general medical office with a common waiting room where health care professionals will be able to rent space for only the office hours they need, thus eliminating much of the overhead typically associated with running a practice.

"It's a comprehensive medical community," he said. "They don't have to go through the expense to maintain an office, pay for cleaning, electricity. The overhead is saved. We provide secretarial skills and the real estate."

Bakalis said the renovations are expected to begin within months. Still, merchants are skeptical that it will actually happen this time.

"This has been going on for years. It never gets done," said one business owner, who declined to give a name out of fear of upsetting the landlord. "It's losing tenants left and right. I'd like to know what they're doing with all this money that we're paying."

Mancuso said four years ago shop owners were told that renovations would take place "within the year."

"They just kept pushing it back," he said. "What they say and what they do are two different things."