By GREGORY ZELLER //
A veteran Long Island biotech that found new footing during the COVID crisis is on the verge of a major expansion, with a tip of the test tube to the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency.
The Nassau IDA has approved a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal for One Ames Realty, an LLC planning to purchase and renovate an existing 30,000-square-foot commercial building on South Terminal Drive in Plainview – and then lease the space to Acupath Laboratories, a circa-1998 diagnostics ace that long specialized in cancer detection, until the novel coronavirus came knocking.
Acupath, an expert in sub-specialized anatomic pathology, is still on cancer’s trail, with further diagnostic programs focused on gastroenterology, urology, women’s health and other critical healthcare areas.
But the biotech – which earned U.S. Food & Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization for a real-time polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 assay in early 2020 – has been especially busy over the last two years-plus. It’s one of just a handful of statewide private laboratories licensed to test COVID-19 specimens, and the only commercial Long Island lab with that distinction.
Brian Kunkel: Home sweet home.
It has also expanded its COVID-testing reach to other states through an ambitious collaboration with a nationwide independent-pharmacy group-purchasing platform and soared to the rescue of digital travel platforms eager to clear airline passengers for international flights.
Since May 2020, Acupath has tested nearly 1 million COVID-19 specimens – and the busy operation is in serious need of additional elbow room, according to Chief Operating Officer Brian Kunkel, who expressed thanks for being able to keep the Plainview-based laboratory in its longtime hometown.
“While we provide sub-specialized anatomic pathology services to people all across the United States, Long Island is our home,” Kunkel said. “This would not have been possible without the IDA’s help, and we are tremendously grateful for their assistance.”
One Ames Realty’s purchase/renovation effort, calculated as an $8.5 million project by the IDA, is a win for the South Terminal Drive facility: Only the first floor of the building is currently leased, with that lease set to expire at the end of the year.
Richard Kessel: Mission accomplished, once again.
Acupath Laboratories will occupy the entire space – more than doubling its physical footprint – following an eight-month reconstruction effort that Ames Realty expects will create 25 temporary construction jobs.
The expansion will also allow Acupath Laboratories to retain its current 117 employees, while creating an additional 70 full-time-equivalent professional positions with annual salaries ranging from $38,000 to $250,000, according to the IDA.
“Our company’s success benefits not only our clients, but also the more than 100 employees who are financially stable thanks to our services,” Kunkel noted. “With this expansion, we look forward to doing the same for dozens of new employees.”
The project is also a win for Nassau County: Over the course of the 10-year PILOT plan, the county is slated to collect more than $3.4 million in operational and hiring-related revenues. Regional socioeconomics, meanwhile, are boosted by the replacement of an underused eyesore of a warehouse.
Triggering regional socioeconomic payoffs like that is precisely why PILOT programs exist, according to Nassau County IDA Chairman Richard Kessel, and “supporting the expansion and success of local businesses here in Nassau County is exactly what IDAs were created to do.”
“Not only does it demonstrate the incredible success that can be had by entrepreneurs in our community, but it also helps in the creation of jobs for many of our residents,” Kessel said in a statement. “Dozens of Long Islanders will be able to find and maintain work in our community thanks to this project.
“We at the IDA are proud to play an important role in this coming to fruition.”
