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Boulevard of Dreams For Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone, the Wal-Mart under construction on Route 110 in Farmingdale is a lost opportunity. Bellone had hoped to use the 25-acre site, home to Polytechnic University until 2002, as the starting point to reinvent a corridor now lined with dated industrial shells and strip shopping centers hawking everything from carpet remnants to prom dresses. He envisioned office complexes filled with high-paying tech or banking jobs. “We were discouraging the development of retail. We thought this property was an opportunity,” said Bellone. “We couldn’t persuade anyone to build.” Except Wal-Mart, of course. The store, one of Wal-Mart’s largest on Long Island, should open early next year, accompanied by other suburban sprawl staples: Panera Bread, Chipotle, Chili’s Grill & Bar. “After extensive studies, they realized what I told them – that high-tech industries were not in the market at this time and probably wouldn’t be for a decade,” said developer Wilbur Breslin, who is building the Farmingdale retail complex anchored by Wal-Mart. Turns out Babylon isn’t willing to wait. The town unveiled an ambitious plan last week that leaders hope will lure Class A buildings to what it calls “Long Island’s Main Street,” five miles stretching from the Melville border at Farmingdale State University of New York to Route 109 in Farmingdale. It includes a corporate airport, a university and access to the Southern State Parkway. “We’re at a crossroads on 110. Development could go either way,” said Bellone. “If we don’t act now to do something to create a huge incentive that can kick-start this kind of development, we may lose this opportunity.” Under the new program, Babylon will shepherd Class A building permits through the bureaucratic approval process, winnowing the approval time to under three months. Under a 10-year PILOT plan, there will be no property taxes for the first year and taxes would be phased in evenly over a 10-year period. The standard tax incentive plan calls for 50-percent savings and this 100-percent deal is the Babylon Industrial Development Agency’s first. The goal is to attract several buildings of up to 250,000 square feet each that would house white-collar businesses in fields such as finance, engineering and bioscience. The town, which says it wants to join forces with neighboring Melville, aims to put a shovel in the ground within 18 months. “Do we want to be the capital of … low-end stores, or do we want to have a Main Street that creates jobs that adds value to our region and adds to the tax base of our region?” asked Robert Stricoff, executive director of the town’s Industrial Development Agency. “We are shouting at the top of our lungs: This is what we want and we will make it happen!” Industrial leftovers Both Bellone and Stricoff realize Babylon is working against decades of poor planning – and a blue-collar reputation – to do that. Most of Farmingdale’s outdated industrial buildings sprung up decades ago on tiny plots for defense businesses like Grumman and Fairchild that relied heavily on Republic Airport. (The former Polytech site borders the airport.) But when the defense era ended, thousands of jobs went with it, leaving behind industrial shells filled by “schlocky retailers,” Stricoff said. Meanwhile, neighboring Melville shed its rural potato farming roots and transformed its chunk of Route 110 into a Class A powerhouse. In 1962, when the Long Island Expressway linked with 110 in Melville, it was the catalyst, creating a domino effect of companies clustering there. “Farmingdale was the engine before Melville was,” said David Pennetta, with Oxford & Simpson in Jericho. But today, Farmingdale has “fallen victim to being next to the pretty sister, which is Melville,” Pennetta added. Playing catch-up That’s precisely what Babylon wants to change. Melville’s side of Route 110 houses Sbarro, North Fork Bancorp. and Adecco North America, among others. Farmingdale, meanwhile, has numerous discount furniture stores displaying scratched armoires and patio furniture to passers-by. That’s not the type of development we want,” Stricoff said. “No more haphazard development. [Bellone] is laying down a blueprint.” The plan has been in the works for several years, so Babylon created an overlay district allowing taller buildings. Now, two name-brand hotels are under way near Republic Airport. But after realizing there’s nearly a million square feet of new spec office space being built Islandwide – suggesting that there’s plenty of demand – Bellone said it was now time to push for office development. Challenges ahead Babylon’s Route 110 transformation won’t be easy. All of the spec space under way is in established areas including Melville, Lake Success, Jericho and Hauppauge, where an office building is unlikely to share a property line with an outdated industrial building or low-rent strip mall. That’s why William Yorio, a Corporate National Realty executive vice president, is skeptical that Farmingdale will become a “major office market in the near future.” He pointed out several prime sites remain up for grabs that will “offer a number of space alternatives for years to come.” Craig Padover, who owns 90,000 square feet of flex space near the 109/110 intersection, agreed Melville is the “real competition” and tenants will gravitate there if space is available. Babylon, meanwhile, will also have to finesse multiple parties. Its Route 110 side is developed and spoken for by a patchwork of landowners. Many own small parcels that would have to be joined for a bigger office building. “You need the cooperation, obviously, of the local property owners who are willing to sell,” said Newmark Knight Frank’s Chuck Tabone. Many landowners have tenants whose leases would have to be purchased. That could incense the small businesses that have kept Farmingdale humming for years. “What are you going to do, cast them off because you don’t like them?” asked one property owner. Bellone said that’s not the case. There’s room for small retailers in Farmingdale, but at a more suitable location. The road is “an important place for Long Island’s economy,” he said. “If we’re going to build high-wage jobs, then 110 is clearly the place to do it.” And he hopes the town’s excitement and planning and the economic incentives will be enough to jumpstart the process. “Certainly anyone who does this takes a risk, and what we’re trying to do is lessen that risk to the extent that they’ll sort of take the leap,” Bellone said. replica watch power cord replica rolex extension cord power cord China export wwmm blogblogshost xanga canalblog wwmm blog blogcult bloghorn Post a comment in response: |
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