By GREGORY ZELLER //
A routine benefits package earning first-stage approvals from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency is a prime example of the value of IDA tax breaks.
“Significant promise on multiple fronts” is how Suffolk Industrial Development Agency Acting Executive Director Kelly Murphy describes the preliminary approval of a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal benefitting 536 Broadhollow Realty, an LLC aiming to construct an all-new warehouse/office facility at 1700 Walt Whitman Road in Melville.
Abutting the eponymous LLC’s second holding (at 536 Broadhollow Road in Melville), the new construction will add 77,000 square feet over 5.8 acres – ideal for one or two tenants, according to the IDA. And while it will indeed receive a decade-long PILOT deal (pending a full IDA review and final vote), it will ultimately generate millions of dollars for local tax coffers and contribute millions more to the regional economy.
Kelly Murphy: Filling the supply gap.
The numbers, as per the IDA, shine brightly: $100,000 in additional annual taxes beginning in the first year of the 10-year agreement (when construction is projected to be underway), with annual property taxes rising to $206,000 following the completion of the project – $139,000 of which will be earmarked for the Half Hollow Hills Central School District.
According to the IDA, that’s a roughly 225 percent increase compared to the taxes generated by the previous structure at the site – an outdated, 60,000-square-foot warehouse, once the storage facility of the famous Rubie’s Costume Co., demolished by 536 Broadhollow Realty last December.
Annual operational revenues are projected to generate an “indirect impact” of about $450,000 and an “induced impact” $860,000-plus per year – excellent news for local merchants across multiple Long Island sectors and a considerable “expansion of the regional economy,” the IDA said in a statement.
New and improved: The new warehouse at 1700 Walt Whitman Road will upgrade the site’s previous eyesore.
Throw in a host of construction-phase jobs and 27 projected full-time positions (with average salaries exceeding $48,000, resulting in an annual payroll of more than $1.3 million), and 536 Broadhollow Realty’s $11.5 million reconstruction plan checks off all the right boxes.
And when you consider the ongoing call for more small-to-medium warehouse facilities in Western Suffolk, the project aligns perfectly with the IDA’s Long Island First Policy, according to Murphy.
“By replacing a vacant building with a modern warehouse and office facility, we address a pressing demand-supply gap in the market,” the acting director said Tuesday. “Moreover, this initiative promises a substantial increase in tax revenue for local jurisdictions and the creation of numerous job opportunities, offering tangible benefits to the community.”
