Island insiders praise present, future of commercial RE

By GREGORY ZELLER //

Long Island’s commercial real estate insiders are feeling pretty good about things these days.

That’s the big takeaway from the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island’s annual State of the Market panel discussion, held Wednesday at the RXR Building in Melville. The event placed a gaggle of high-ranking industry experts before an audience of commercial RE professionals for a lengthy discussion of past projects, current construction and anticipated advancements – with most of the participants expressing optimism about the state of commercial developments in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Moderated by Farrell Fritz Real Estate and Economic Development Partner Peter Curry, the discussion focused heavily on emerging trends in the office, industrial, retail and investment sales markets – and “reflected a real sense of optimism,” according to CIBS President Ralph Benzakein.

“There are certainly challenges, but we are seeing investment, new development, tenants making moves and opportunities emerging across a number of sectors,” noted Benzakein, also a senior vice president with global commercial real estate consultancy Cresa.

“The State of the Market has become an important CIBS tradition because it gives our industry an opportunity to come together … and have a candid conversation about what we are seeing across the market,” Benzakein added. “The turnout of more than 150 professionals demonstrates just how valuable these conversations are to our members and the broader commercial real estate community.”

The panel – including Stephen Cadorette of Cushman & Wakefield, Clem Cote II of Sovereign Realty Group, Thomas DeLuca of Cushman & Wakefield Industrial and Dennis Gandley of Douglas Elliman – highlighted several significant projects as cause for confidence in Long Island commercial real estate.

Among them: the Melville Town Center initiative (which aims to revitalize vacant office and industrial buildings to create a walkable Melville downtown), the successful integration of the Station Yards residential/retail development in Ronkonkoma and NYU Langone Health’s planned “academic medical center” in Melville.

Cadorette, director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Melville office, emphasized increased activity in the regional office market, powered by post-pandemic return-to-office strategies – still hotly debated across the land, but increasingly embraced by many larger employers.

Gandley, meanwhile, dove deep into promising progress in Long Island’s retail market, with limited retail-only developments putting a premium on constrained supplies, service-oriented businesses (including restaurants and medical practices) showing new interest in traditional retail spaces and smaller shopping centers – including several open-air concepts – supercharging the sector.

Insights like those – coming “directly from professionals who are working in these markets every day” – are what make the annual State of the Market discussion so valuable, according to moderator Curry.

“When you look across the different sectors, there are encouraging signs of movement and investment,” the Farrell Fritz partner said. “At the same time, every sector is evolving, whether it is the changing use of office space, the limited supply of industrial and retail properties or new types of tenants entering the market.

“Bringing these perspectives together gives us a much clearer picture of where Long Island commercial real estate stands,” Curry added, “and where it may be going.”