Bojangles, Panera plans for Farmingville eateries move forward

Chicken chain Bojangles is getting closer to bringing its first restaurant to Long Island in more than 20 years.

The Town of Brookhaven’s  seven-member  planning board voted unanimously Thursday to approve the site plan to construct Bojangles and Panera Bread eateries on Farmingville property.  

North Block Ventures LLC and its subsidiary, NBV II LLC, in Westbury are the developers behind the plan to bring the two restaurants to an approximately 15-acre site, called Holmesview Commons, in the 3000 block of North Ocean Avenue in Farmingville. 

The 2,806-square-foot Bojangles and a 3,315-square-foot Panera Bread, both with drive-thrus, would be freestanding restaurants in front of a building that originally had been intended for an Amazon Fresh supermarket.

The Bojangles would be a franchise operated by Jericho resident Habib Hashimi, who hopes to open the fast-food restaurant next summer.

Through his company, Hashimi Holding Corp., he signed a franchise deal with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bojangles Restaurants Inc. in August to open 20 of the eateries in the metro area.

Bojangles had a brief presence in the New York market, including a Long Island restaurant in Hempstead, in the 1980s. Bojangles also had another Long Island restaurant, in Kings Park, for a short time about 20 years ago, Smithtown Planning Director Peter Hans told Newsday last month.

Now that Brookhaven’s planning board has approved the site plan, the only other approvals needed from the town are site clearing and building permits, said Anthony S. Guardino, a partner in Uniondale law firm Farrell Fritz P.C., who represents the developers.

Last month, Brookhaven’s board of zoning appeals approved requests for variances for the Farmingville projects.

The developers received permission from the board to reduce the required minimum side yard setback from 50 feet to 32.3 feet for the Bojangles restaurant.

They also were approved to add four additional signs, related to the Panera drive-thru, which will exceed the four signs that normally would be allowed on the building.

Eateries could help draw more tenants

Bojangles and Panera’s presence would help attract other tenants to the Farmingville site, which could lead to the development of a complete shopping center on the property in the future, said Art Garritano, a member of North Block Ventures and NBV.

The only building on the site is a vacant 35,053-square-foot building that was constructed in 2023 for an Amazon Fresh supermarket that never opened. 

The Seattle-based grocer’s signature gray and light green paint and clusters of large windows are on the Farmingville building, at 3017 N. Ocean Ave.

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said Amazon told him in January that it would not be opening a store there, Newsday reported in February.

Amazon has not responded to Newsday's inquiries about the Farmingville project.

The company routinely puts nondisclosure agreements in place with the landlords and developers of properties where it plans to open stores.

Garritano declined to comment specifically about Amazon Fresh on Wednesday. But he said North Block Ventures had no say over bringing in a replacement occupant for the Farmingville building because the 15-year lease in place is being honored by the lessee.

That lessee "controls the property. ... It’s up to them whether they open it or release it or whatever they do," he said.

Newsday's Carl MacGowan contributed to this story.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.