Biz campus gets handcuffs but also tax breaks

Mitchell Rechler and the Hampton Business District (Rechler Equity, Hampton Business District)

The Hampton Business District is conveniently located next to an airport, but its tenants cannot use it. That is by design.

The project, now nearing completion, would never have happened but for the airplane ban and other restrictions negotiated by town and Suffolk County officials years ago. Perhaps in exchange for those handcuffs, the campus is receiving tax breaks.

Construction on the fifth and final building in the Rechler Equity Partners–developed industrial park in Westhampton Beach is set to begin in the spring, Newsday reported. The building will have more than 98,000 square feet of office, showroom, factory and warehouse space at 230 Roger’s Way, next to the Francis S. Grabeski Airport.

In the coming days, the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency  will consider $2 million in tax breaks for the last of the buildings. The previous four buildings received IDA packages, according to Newsday.

“The Hampton Business District has been decades in the making and IDA assistance has been important to its success,” said Anthony J. Catapano, the IDA’s executive director.

Construction of the building is expected to cost $36 million. A large majority of the space will be used for production, storage and distribution, though no tenants have signed leases yet.

Meanwhile, Amazon is expected to open a warehouse at the Westhampton Beach industrial park in the spring, Rechler Equity co-managing partner Mitchell Rechler told Newsday. The 91,000-square-foot warehouse will serve as a “last-mile” delivery hub for the retailer.

Last year, residents complained about Amazon’s entrance  into the area, fearing the hub would increase air traffic and create a disruptive environment. But according to Newsday, no aircraft-related business is allowed at the industrial campus; that was one of the 18 conditions that the town secured from county officials to allow the campus to be built.

That deal broke an impasse that dragged on from 1970 into the 2000s. The restrictions may also explain why county officials can justify the project’s breaks on property and sales taxes. Industrial development has been the hottest sector in real estate for several years, and warehouses are now often leased even before they are built.

The industrial park at Francis S. Gabreski Airport has three completed buildings with 17 tenants, including cookie maker Tate’s Bake Shop and graphics company Duggal Visual Solutions.  The development was made possible after the airport was transferred from the federal government to Suffolk County in 1970.

Suffolk County selected Rechler Equity to build and operate across the 50 acres in 2008, and Rechler signed a 40-year lease in 2013. The park is expected to ultimately house 400 employees across more than 377,000 square feet.

[Newsday] — Holden Walter-Warner