King of CPEX Real Estate advises WASH-o-Matic! in 3,500 s/f lease

WASH-o-Matic!, a new 24-hour laundry, has opened its first location at 2090 Linden Blvd. "Our facility has a number of unique, or upgraded, amenities - among them a 12-car parking lot with direct access to the store," said Robert Hennessy, VP of operations. "The site was home to a neighborhood laundromat destroyed by a fire three years ago, and after a recent renovation, was enlarged to 3,500 s/f. We signed a lease in December, and we rolled out a soft-opening in mid-March. Construction took under 90 days, and permitting/licensing approvals another few weeks." Hennessy said the company has expansion plans and looks to open five more WASH-o-Matic! locations. WASH-o-Matic! is working exclusively with CPEX Real Estate Services to identify sites between 2,500 and 4,000 s/f. "We're excited about assisting Robert and we're actively searching for additional locations throughout the five boroughs," said Tim King, managing partner for CPEX, who acted as an advisor and consultant for this transaction. Hennessy said one of the goals of his organization is to become fully integrated into the community by hiring locally and supporting local organizations. "All of our employees are from East New York and Brownsville and every employee is on a management track," he said. As part of its recent grand opening celebration, Hennessy held a buffet luncheon for customers catered by a local business, 3D's Castle Restaurant. He also presented Winchester Key, executive director of the East New York Urban Youth Corps, with a check to benefit the organization's new STAR program, which is scheduled to launch in the fall. Key said STAR is an acronym for Sustaining Transformation and Recovery and is designed to help at risk youth and first offenders 14 to 21 years old from East New York and Brownsville by entering them in a two-month program outside of the city. WASH-o-Matic! features 50 washers and 50 dryers, 14 folding tables, security cameras, an attendant 24 hours a day, laundry debit cards, and flat screen TVs. Photo caption: Shown (from left) at the ribbon cutting are: King; Walter Campbell district manager, Community Board 5; Key; Hennessy; and Bob Kramer, regional sales manager, Metropolitan Laundry Machinery Co. Inc.