Long Island profits as industrial space disappears elsewhere

Residential conversions of business sites in Brooklyn and Queens shrinking supply

Industrial space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Industrial space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

The loss of factories and warehouses to housing developments in Queens and Brooklyn is turning into gains for Long Island landlords.

Brokers say businesses are heading east due to the shrinking supply of industrial space. Sales of such real estate in Nassau County has surged 133 percent to $139.3 million in the year through the second quarter of 2014.

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Those numbers come from Real Capital Analytics and were cited in a story by the Wall Street Journal. According to that paper, the pace of deals is also quickening in Suffolk County, where sales are up 223 percent to $65.4 million during the same period.

Meanwhile, asking rents in Long Island increased 12.4 percent to $8.22 per square foot in the second quarter, according to a Cushman and Wakefield report cited by the Journal.

Also helping to push up prices: the conversion of some Long Island industrial space to medical and urgent-care facilities and retail, the newspaper reported. [WSJ]Tom DiChristopher