Rechler of Rechler Equity Ptrs. keynote speaker

The Downstate and NYC Chapter of SIOR held its annual Long Island Event at the Marriott in Uniondale with its keynote speaker being Mitchell Rechler of Rechler Equity Partners who was joined by his cousin and partner, Gregg Rechler. Rechler outlined his plans for the recently announced development of the former Grumman facility in Calverton, New York. The SIOR local chapter president, William O'Brien, SIOR, introduced the speaker after thanking the event sponsors and then detailed to the crowd of about 120, the potential benefits of SIOR affiliation. O'Brien also took a moment to acknowledge the other chapter officers which include Frank Frizalone, SIOR, of Cushman & Wakefield, chapter vice president, Richard Caputi, SIOR, of CRESA Partners, chapter secretary, and Jeff Schwartzberg, SIOR, of Sutton and Edwards, chapter secretary. O'Brien also welcomed new SIOR members: Jeff Schwartzberg, SIOR, John La Ruffa, SIOR; of NAI Long Island, Steve Kornspun, SIOR; NAI Friedland and Ralph Benzakien, SIOR of CRESA Partners. During Rechler's presentation, he described some of the history of his family's business which pioneered the concept of Industrial Parks and then its evolution to one of the largest commercial landlords in the Tri State area under the publicly traded Reckson Associates. He and his partners subsequently refocused on the privately held portfolio of approximately 100 industrial buildings comprising approximately 6 million s/f in the new Rechler Equity Partners. He also outlined some of the developments underway with his cousin, Gregg, under the auspices of the another entity controlled by the two cousins, R Squared LLC, a real estate investment and development company with projects throughout New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey. Rechler detailed the bidding process for the 300 acre former Grumman facility and the ultimate award of the project from the Town of Riverhead. The Rechlers' background as Industrial Developers probably was the deciding factor in this $35 million acquisition as none of the other bidders had nearly as much industrial development background. In true Rechler style, the partners expect to develop the site in five phases as the first LEED certified industrial park in Metropolitan New York. They did acknowledge the challenges of the site being so far east, but pointed out the extremely tight industrial market on Long Island and the fact these buildings which will eventually total 2.5 million s/f will be a modern hi cube warehouse located in an empire zone, and they are confident it will attract the types of tenancies their other developments have achieved.