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Jim McMullan tells the story of his leaving Cheefoo in 1941 with his terra cotta pot. He was the son of missionaries and journeyed to Canada as a young boy. COURTESY ALEXANDRA EAMES
A ribbon cutting held on June 22 at Rechler Equity Partners’ new sales office, located just north of the main entrance to Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, marks another step forward in the development of the long-anticipated business and technology complex at the Suffolk County-owned airport.
Cousins Gregg and Mitchell Rechler, the owners of the real estate company based in Plainview, said last week that they entered into discussions with several tenants that may eventually lease space at the complex, known as the Hampton Business District. They also said they expect to break ground on their nine-building development, which will be anchored by a three-story hotel, before the end of the year.
“This event is really our way of kicking off and letting the community know we’re open for business,” Gregg Rechler told a small crowd that gathered in Westhampton for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
In a press release detailing the event, he added: “When completed, this will be a state-of-the-art destination for any business looking to operate on the East End.”
Rechler Equity Partners owns an estimated 7 million square feet of commercial property across Long Island, including industrial parks in Bohemia, Hauppauge and Melville, according to Mitchell Rechler. The new sales office at the Gabreski Airport is the first satellite leasing office that the company has opened. “We want to have an on-site presence in the development,” he said.
Mitchell Rechler said the company is still awaiting final site plan approval from Southampton Town, which he expects to secure before the end of the year, before ground can be broken on the estimated 50 acres that he and his cousin are now leasing from the county; the developers inked a 40-year lease with Suffolk in 2009. The town signed off on the site as a Planned Development District in 2007, meaning that it was approved for commercial development, in an effort to bring jobs and economic growth to the area. But Mitchell Rechler said that completing a project of this magnitude is a slow process.
Friday’s grand opening—the Rechlers’ new digs previously housed the now defunct Bob Stevens Appliances—was attended by Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director Anthony Manetta, Town Council members Bridget Fleming, Chris Nuzzi and James Malone, and Gabreski Airport Manager Anthony Ceglio.
“I think it’s terrific,” Ms. Throne-Holst said of the new sales office, adding that it is not out of the ordinary for such a large-scale project to take some time to get out of the starting blocks. “All of us talk during these difficult times about economic creation and job development, and this is real meat on the bones as far as that goes for the town,” she said.
Ms. Throne-Holst said the business park, once open, will offer the opportunity for industrial growth, marking a step in a different direction on the East End. In the past, she said that such growth has traditionally focused on the region’s agricultural and tourism industries.
The Rechlers said the first buildings to be constructed will be a 35,000-square-foot office located on the southwest corner of their property and a 58,000-square-foot warehouse showroom to be located east of the office building. The warehouse will have many potential uses, including functioning as a showroom or a space for research, Mitchell Rechler said. Though he and his cousin still do not have any signed contracts with tenants, Mr. Rechler said they hope to attract a variety of businesses, from film production companies and printers, to those firms that focus on medicine and the culinary arts.
In total, nine structures will be built, totaling an estimated 440,000 square feet of space, and will include a day care center, outdoor recreational facilities and the hotel. The plans for the business complex originally called for a two-story, 35-foot-tall hotel, but, last year, the Town Board approved the developers’ suggested amendments to the plan, which now calls for the construction of a three-story, 45-foot-tall building featuring 145 rooms. Mitchell Rechler said he and his cousin are in discussions with two different hotel chains, and that construction on the hotel itself could start before the end of the year or early next year.
The Rechlers said the business park, once completed, will be able to accommodate the needs of both small and large businesses, noting that the lease space will range in size from 2,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet. Mitchell Rechler said his company is considering sustainable design and green technology in their construction plans, though he said the specifics have not yet been determined.
Carol Moran on Jun 26, 2012