A crime saga leads this week’s edition of The Real Deal’s roundup of suburban New York real estate news.
Beat the drum slowly
A Long Island developer has left two projects after pleading guilty to federal charges in a $29.4 million fraudulent billing scheme.
Robert DiNoto, 48, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after submitting invoices for a nonexistent sale of metal drum containers, according to Newsday. He is to be sentenced next year and could receive up to 20 years in prison.
DiNoto has divested from a $69 million mixed-use project in Hicksville and a separate one in Commack. Both developments are dubbed Fieldstone. DiNoto’s brother, Eugene, previously pleaded guilty to separate charges in the same scheme.
Oldies but goodies
Fairfield Properties, Long Island’s largest apartment owner, snapped up two multifamily complexes in Stewart Manor for $13.3 million, Newsday reported. Stewart Manor Realty sold the properties, at 605-625 Tulip Avenue and 130-150 Covert Avenue.
The 1950s-era apartments span 40,000 square feet and include 50 units. Tri-State Properties co-presidents Ron Kleinberg and Dale Staudigel represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction.
Montauk brewery goes to pot
Corporate cannabis company Tilray took its business to the East End, acquiring Montauk Brewing Co. for an undisclosed price, Newsday reported. The transaction is geared towards expanding the Montauk Brewing brand.
Tilray owns a number of alcoholic beverage makers, including SweetWater Brewing Company and Breckenridge Distillery. The brewery has no plans of altering its signature drinks, but the acquisition could lead to new products.
Whole Foods to Holbrook?
Blumenfeld Development Group is eyeing Whole Foods as a tenant for the proposed redevelopment of the Sun Vet Mall in Holbrook, Newsday reported. No agreement has been reached, but Blumenfeld is seeking a 40,000-square-foot grocer to anchor the mostly dead property.
The developer is also looking to Starbucks to fill some of the retail property, which is 92 percent vacant and down to four tenants. The developer has proposed shrinking the mall from 282,000 square feet to 163,000 square feet.
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Development
Tri-State
After Oyster Bay rezoning, 141-unit Hicksville project moves forward
Senior moment
The Suffolk County IDA provided preliminary approval for the construction of a 77,000-square-foot assisted living and memory care facility at 1381-1387 Pulaski Road in Northport, Long Island. The project is expected to cost nearly $55 million.
Sunrise Senior Living, which has 273 communities in North America, will run the 90-unit, two-story facility, which will also have an Alzheimer’s unit.
A thousand points of light storage
Cyzner Properties landed a $23 million construction loan to build a self-storage facility at 3421 Route 22 in Branchburg, New Jersey. Valley National Bank provided the three-year interest-only loan.
The facility will include 1,000 storage units across three two-story buildings. Additional acreage on the property could support a 160-unit residential development. Kathy Anderson and Caillin Boles of Progress Capital arranged the loan.