Hearst Business Media Leases Space at Sunrise Business Center for New Services Unit
Garden City, NY (PRWEB) November 29, 2007 -- Hearst Business Media is establishing a new business unit at Metropolitan Realty Associates' Sunrise Business Center in Great River, Long Island.
Hearst signed a long-term lease for 5,796 square feet in the 100 Building of the Sunrise Business Center at 3500 Sunrise Highway for its newly established shared services group. Details of the lease were not disclosed, except that Hearst will have an opportunity to expand into additional space in the office complex as its new operation grows.
"We are incredibly pleased that a company of the caliber of Hearst Business Media has chosen to locate in our complex," Joseph Farkas, President of Metropolitan Realty Associates said.
The new Hearst unit, which will provide computer services to the more than 20 divisions of Hearst Business Media, will operate out of temporary space in the building, beginning in late November. A permanent move is anticipated early in 2008.
The group will provide applications development, web development and other data services to more than 20 business-to-business information services, electronic databases, and publications located around the United States owned by Hearst. A 24-hour support desk for these services also will be located in the Great River facility.
Hearst chose to locate at the Great River complex, because of the "great pool of educated people" available in the region to fill the engineering and technology jobs being created, said Brian Schwagerl, vice president of real estate and facilities at Hearst Corp. in Manhattan. Hearst considered other sites on Long Island and elsewhere before settling on the Great River location, he said, adding, "It's a good redevelopment site and a beautiful building."
Islip Town Supervisor Philip Nolan said Hearst will be an important addition to the town's economic base. "The Town of Islip welcomes Hearst Business Media's Shared Services Group, which brings nearly 30 high-paying, high-tech jobs to its new headquarters in the Sunrise Business Center," he said, noting that the Hearst lease, along with other recent leases at the complex, including Aetna Life Insurance Co. and Metro Door "will go a long way toward restoring the economic importance to our town of this outstanding site, the one time home of Grumman Electronics."
Hearst Business Media is joining other prestigious tenants in the complex, include Aetna Life Insurance Co. Citizen's Banks, AC Atel, Metro Door, Netsmart Technologies and Verizon.
Hearst was represented in lease negotiations by Phil D'Avanzo, of Cushman & Wakefield's Long Island office in Melville, and Peter Berti, of Cushman & Wakefield in Manhattan. Metropolitan Realty Associates was represented by its exclusive leasing team from the CB Richard Ellis Woodbury office, including Ray Ruiz, Bruce Nelson, Marianne Dugan and Ryan Blaney.
The Sunrise Business Center is comprised of three buildings totaling 363,600 square feet, ideally located just at 3500 Sunrise Highway at Connetquot Avenue.
Currently, Metropolitan is undertaking a multimillion dollar renovation of the property, including the entire redevelopment for office use of a 136,000-square-foot former warehouse building in the complex. Other work includes new HVAC systems, fire safety systems and common area renovations.
Since acquiring the building, formerly the Long Island Business and Technology Center, in 2006 Metropolitan has signed new leases and expansions at Sunrise Business Center totaling more than 60,000 square feet.
By locating in the Sunrise Business Center, Hearst will benefit from property tax incentives approved earlier this year by the Town of Islip and from existing New York State Empire Zone benefits. The Islip benefits freeze property taxes at the site for five years, followed by annual increases of 3 percent a year for 10 years beginning in 2012. Taxes for the first five years are just $1.62 per square foot, a huge competitive edge for tenants and prospective tenants in the complex. At the end of the 15-year program taxes will total below $2.20 per square foot, providing tenants and prospective tenants potential savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
About Hearst Business Media
Hearst Business Media, an operating group of Hearst Corp., one of the nation's largest, diversified media companies. Hearst Business Media operates more than 20 business-to-business information services, electronic databases, and publications. Among its core competencies is the aggregation of time-sensitive price, and product and technical information that is integrated into business and professional processes. For additional information about Hearst Business Media visit http://hearst.com/business_media/
About Metropolitan Realty Associates Established in 2001, Garden City, NY-based Metropolitan Realty Associates LLC is a national real estate investment and development firm, owning more than 700,000 square feet of office space on Long Island. Metropolitan Realty Associates owns the Business and Research Center at Garden City, in Garden City, NY, the Sunrise Business Center in Great River, NY, and the Jericho Atrium in Jericho, NY. It also owns The Southwest Corporate Center in Houston, TX. For more information about Metropolitan Realty Associates, visit www.metropolitanra.com.
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