Bethpage-Tribune_2008-12-05

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Volume 46 Number 47 329 Broadway., Bethpage, NY 11714 Dec. 5-11, 2008 (516)681-0440 ext 21 FAX (516)681-9354 Email: Nuz2u@aol.com 50 Cents
105 Acre Grumman Property Sold to Developer
On November 26 a press confer­ence
was held in Mineola to
announce that a firm has been cho­sen
for the redevelopment of the 101
acre former Grumman Property in
Bethpage. Nassau County Executive
Thomas Suozzi and Nassau County
Legislator Edward Mangano were
on hand to explain that the property
in Bethpage was officially trans­ferred
from the Navy to the County
on April 2, 2008, pursuant to Federal
legislation enacted when a weapons
plant formerly located on the site
closed. The County sent out a
Request for Proposals (RFP) in June
and selected Steel Equities earlier
this month. Suozzi and Mangano
feel that this property should be
marketed as. a center for biotechnol­ogy,
nanotechnology, the develop- .
ment of alternative fuels as well as
homeland security.
"Redevelopment of the
Grumman site is an integral part of
Nassau County's comprehensive
economic development strategy to
increase the tax base, create jobs and
protect the suburban quality of life
that makes Nassau County such a
great place to live," said Suozzi.
"We have spent a great deal of time
meeting with the Town of Oyster
Bay government officials, neighbor­hood
groups and the business com­munity
to encourage the redevelop­ment
of this property. The residents
of Bethpage and surrounding com­munities
have waited over a decade
for the renewal of this site. I look
forward to hearing ideas from the
community about this exciting proj­ect."
"I look forward to discussing
with our community the jobs and
opportunities that will soon be creat­ed
on this former defense industry
property. The redevelopment repre­sents
the opportunity to curtail
"brain drain' by creating high-tech
jobs, an opportunity to strengthen
our economy by establishing a new
film studio industry, an opportunity
to provide needed athletic outlets for
our youth, an opportunity to support
our volunteer firefighters through
infrastructure improvements, and an
opportunity for carpenters, bricklay­ers,
electricians, laborers, architects
and engineers alike to find work in
today's tough economic times," said
Legislator Edward P. Mangano.
"Working together we can and will
make our economy stronger and our
environment cleaner while making
our community an even better place
to live, work and raise our families."
On June 10, 2008, CB Richard
Ellis (CBRE) issued a Request for
Proposals (RFP) to sell the property
with the assistance of the Nassau
County Department of Real Estate
Planning & Development. The RFP
contains extensive information about
the property and delineates a 4 acre
recharge basin that will be retained
by the County. Also, the RFP con­tains
a 6-acre site which the devel­oper
will be required to transfer to
the Town of Oyster Bay via ease­ment,
lease or sale for $0. It is the
intention of the Town of Oyster Bay
to develop the six acres into a public
recreation area and a Bethpage Fire
Department training facility.
On November 10, 2008, Steel K,
LLC, an affiliate of Steel Equities,
signed a contract to purchase the
above referenced property for an all
cash purchase price of $28,500,000.
Under the terms of the contract, the
County will convey fee title to 92 of
the 96 acres of real property current­ly
owned by the County; and assign
its rights as tenant under the lease of
an additional 9 acres currently
leased by the County and owned by
the Navy. Approximately 6.44 of the
92 acres being conveyed by the
County will, in turn, be conveyed by
the purchaser to the Town of Oyster
Bay for recreational and fire depart­ment
use. The County is retaining 4
of the 96 acres for use as a drainage
facility.
The transfer of this property was
reviews by members of the legisla­ture
through the legislative commit­tee
process on December 1 and they
will vote on this measure at a leg­islative
session on December 15,
2008.
The redevelopment of this prop­erty
will be approved and managed
by the Town of Oyster Bay.
ABOUT THE PROPERTY
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi(r) and Nassau County Legislator
Edward Mangano held a press conference to explain the sale of this property as
well as the steps that will be taken during this process.
The Property, located at the north­east
intersection of South Oyster Bay
Road and the Long Island Rail Road,
has multiple buildings, totaling
approximately 1,330,800 square feet.
Building 3, the largest, is a 876,950
square foot former manufacturing
facility, that includes the Prom Office
building that is 64,973 square feet.
The north warehouse complex con­sists
of six similar buildings each
approximately 33,000 square feet.
The south warehouse complex is
215,249 square feet. There is also a
laboratory building that is 24,645
square feet and the remaining square
footage is comprised of ancillary
structures. Within the 96 acres there
are three recharge basins and several
wells that provide water for industrial
processing. The property though
owned by the Navy was operated
since the early 1940's by the former
Grumman Corporation. All manufac­turing
operations came to an end by
the mid 1990's. The buildings for the
most part are in poor condition.
Congress authorized the Navy to
convey this property to Nassau
County pursuant to Public Law 105-
85 Section 2852, to mitigate the eco­nomic
loss to the county resulting
from the facility closure.
ABOUT STEEL EQUITIES
Steel Equities began buying for­mer
Northrop Grumman property in
1996, and has established the
Bethpage Business Park, about 2 mil­lion
square feet of mostly light indus­trial
on about 120 acres.
On December 2, Legislator
Edward Mangano held two public
meeting sessions for the community
in Bethpage to address any questions
that residents might have regarding
the property.
Legislator Edward Mangano describes the 105 acre site in Bethpage.