Long Island Cheat Sheet: Farmingdale firm caught up in $165M construction bribery scheme … & more

Farmingdale firm caught up in $165M construction bribery scheme, Manhattan DA says
Long Island-based Haider Engineering was improperly awarded $12.8 million in city contracts after getting advanced notice of RFPs, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. A representative for the company denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors said that Ifeanyi “Manny” Madu of the Department of Environmental Protection was at the center of the scheme, dolling out insider info to three engineering firms, including Haider Engineering, and getting about $8.1 million in bribes in return. The companies got about $160 million in city contracts thanks to the info, according to Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance. [TRD]

Residents try to halt $80M Elwood shopping center development
About 200 people took to the streets to protest a proposed $80 million dollar shopping center coming to Elwood. They hoped to pressure the Huntington Town Board to kill the project, arguing that the project will pollute the water supply, exacerbate traffic woes and generally diminish their quality of life, Newsday reported. First proposed 2013, the project calls for an amendment to the town’s comprehensive plan, which would allow Great Neck-based developer Villadom to build on a 50-acre parcel of undeveloped land. The town board plans to meet on May 17 to vote revising the town plan to accommodate the project. [Newsday]

Long Island’s Colliers International branch gets “most ingenious deal of the year” award
The brokerage Colliers International Long Island was awarded the  “most ingenious deal of the year” honor at the annual awards dinner of the Association for a Better Long Island and the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society last week. Colliers earned the distinction for selling the former Pall Corp. building in Port Washington to Kiss Nail Products for $30 million. The building’s labs and office space had previously been a challenge to market, Newsday noted, but the brokerage closed the sale in part by getting Pall to agree to lease out 90,000 square feet of the  272,000-square-foot building. Colliers’ Gus Nuzzolese, Darren Leiderman, Jason Meietta and Ken Enos were behind the deal. Rechler Equity Partners was awarded best developer of the year for its $250 million mixed-use rental project in North Amityville. [Newsday]

Lindenhurst could change zoning rules for proposed apartment building near LIRR
The Lindenhurst Village Board will convene Tuesday and vote on whether to change zoning for a site from industrial to residential, in order to pave the way for a proposed apartment development. The project, which is spearheaded by Tritec Real Estate, would create 260 apartment units across from the town’s LIRR station. Reaching a height of 53 feet and taking up a total of 317,478 square feet, the project would also include 339 parking spots. [Newsday]

Jericho REIT buys 30 properties in four states for $52M
Getty Realty, a publically-traded REIT based in Jericho, bought 30 gas station and convenience store properties from E-Z Mart Stores for $52 million. As part of the deal, Getty turned around and leased the properties in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas to Virginia-based GPM Investments — one of the country’s largest convenience store operators. Getty specializes in owning, leasing and financing these types of properties. As of December 2017, it owned 828 properties and leased another 79 from third-party landlords in 28 states. [LIBN]