Brookfield buys 15-acre industrial site on Long Island

Long-vacant Hicksville Superfund site to become 300K sf distribution facility in reported $45M deal

Brookfield Asset Management CEO Bruce Flatt and 125 New South Road in Hicksville (Brookfield, Simone)
Brookfield Asset Management CEO Bruce Flatt and 125 New South Road in Hicksville (Brookfield, Simone)

Brookfield Asset Management has acquired a 15-acre former Superfund site on Long Island for a reported $45 million.

A Brookfield fund bought the property at 125 New South Road in Hicksville to develop two LEED-certified, Class-A distribution facilities totaling more than 300,000 square feet, the investment giant confirmed to The Real Deal.

The new facilities are expected to come online in two years, featuring high-ceilings with an existing rail spur, ample dock positions and van parking.

The seller, Simone Development Companies, declined to share the price due to a non-disclosure agreement. Citing anonymous sources, Long Island Business News reported that the vacant lot was sold for $45 million.

The sale brought a handsome return to Simone, a Bronx-based real estate investment company, which acquired the property for just $4.4 million in 2017.

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“Well-located industrially zoned land for development is extremely rare and Simone Development is extremely pleased to find a buyer well-equipped to realize the site’s full potential,” Joseph Simone, president of Simone Development, said in a statement.

The property — once the site of a RUCO Polymer Corp. plastic manufacturing facility — has been designated as a Superfund site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 1986 and has gone through an extensive environmental cleanup program to remove contaminated soil. The agency still reviews the site every five years, though it says it no longer poses a threat to the environment.

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The long-vacant site has attracted attention in the era of online shopping, when retailers are rushing to secure more warehouses and distribution centers closer to their customers. The industrial real estate sector has been red hot even in the pandemic-driven downturn, including on Long Island.

In January, a Minnesota-based insurance company paid $74.5 million for a 197,000-square-foot warehouse at 344 Duffy Avenue in Hicksville. The seller was Lincoln Equities Group, which acquired the 9-acre site for $9.35 million in December 2018. While the company was building the distribution warehouse, the property was fully leased to the Home Depot as its Long Island distribution center.