'I Just Asked If They're Selling': Commack Inn Bought For $13.8M

COMMACK, NY — If an opportunity doesn't present itself, sometimes you need to walk inside and ask for it.

Commack Motor Inn, located at 2231 Jericho Turnpike and the adjacent 4,000-square-foot bank building net-leased to Roslyn Savings Bank, was purchased by Mukesh Patel, a Long Island-based real estate investor, for $13.8 million on Dec. 20.

Michael Steinberg, who owns Hedgestone Business Advisors and represents Patel, told Patch that he saw the inn in the springtime. He knew Patel wished to purchase a motel business, and decided to walk inside.

"There wasn't a 'For Sale' sign," said Steinberg. "I just went in there and I just asked if they're selling. And they said, 'Yes.'"

The sale, which includes the 35,000-square-foot motel business, also included a 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom house located behind the motel.

The inn was owned by Raymond Marquez, 92, for nearly 50 years, Steinberg told Patch.

Marquez, who was given the moniker “Spanish Ray,” achieved notoriety by running an illegal numbers racket in Harlem from the 1950s through 2001, according to published reports.

His exploits were featured in a book titled “Gangsters of Harlem.”

Steinberg, who specializes in purchasing hotels, said that Patel intends to keep the motel business, and was intrigued that its room prices were so low.

"That's that's why it was such a good buy," said Steinberg.