Nassau County IDA assists WAC Lighting's $12.3 million purchase of 145,000 s/f building

Garden City-based Wangs Alliance Corp., known as WAC Lighting Co., will move its operations to a 145,000 s/f building, a move made possible with assistance of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency. WAC, a designer and manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting, is purchasing the 145,000 s/f industrial building at 44 Harbor Park Dr. As part of its deal with the Nassau Industrial Development Agency, WAC committed to creating 228 new jobs, many of them engineers, who will work in a new research and development facility at the property. WAC will move 65 current jobs to the new facility. WAC, which manufactures overseas, had considered locating the R&D unit abroad. The company, which had been in Garden City for a decade, also indicated it had considered sites outside of Nassau County for its headquarters. "When WAC came to us their bags were packed and they had one foot out the door," Joseph Kearney, the IDA's executive director, said. "To keep WAC in Nassau County and to get an R&D center is significant." Nassau County executive Edward Mangano said, "Nassau County is working tirelessly to create new good-paying jobs as well as retain those that currently exist. With assistance of the IDA, we are putting our residents back to work and revitalizing local communities. From creating new jobs to generating economic activity in our local economy, this agreement is a win-win for Nassau residents." WAC, which is buying the Port Washington building for $12.3 million from Milan-based Luxottica U.S. Holdings, will receive a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, tax abatement agreement and mortgage-recording tax and sales-tax exemptions. The economic development compact, approved Dec. 6, is expected to generate more than $118.3 million in economic activity. Jones Lang LaSalle represented Luxottica. Colliers represented WAC.