Rechler vacancy at lowest point

As Seen in Long Island Business News November 4, 2005 by DAWN WOTAPKA HARDESTY

BOHEMIA – For its second anniversary, industrial powerhouse Rechler Equity Partners scored quite a gift: a more-than 100,000-square-foot lease that helps push its vacancy to a record low.

LNK International Inc., a manufacturer of over-the-counter medication including generic aspirin sold in drug stores, inked a lease for 106,000 square feet of space. The transaction, which fills 2004 Orville Drive North in Bohemia, is its second largest this year.

“It’s a huge deal,” said Mitchell Rechler, a Rechler Equity founder, adding its 5.6 million-square-foot portfolio is an ultra-tight 97 percent occupied. He didn’t reveal the rent or lease length.

LNK International, a 25-year-old, privately-held company, didn’t comment. Richie Cohen, the Ashlind Properties broker who represented LNK International, also didn’t comment.

LNK International reportedly has another 150,000 square feet of industrial space in and around Hauppauge. It is also relocating from 50,000 square feet, also said to be in the Hauppauge area, into the new Rechler space.

According to Dun and Bradstreet Inc., LNK International reported net sales of $12.4 million and has a staff of 60. Its headquarters is listed as 100 Ricefield Lane in Hauppauge.

Rechler said the Bohemia building, which has 24-foot ceilings, was vacant for about a year and previously leased to troubled diet company Atkins Nutritionals Inc.

Only a handful of significant industrial deals have happened on Long Island this year, said Jack O’Connor, an industrial specialist with Newmark.

Jeff Schwartzberg, a Sutton & Edwards senior director who also specializes in industrial space, said bigger deals are happening as more companies move east on Long Island.

In the Brookhaven Industrial Park, for example, health and beauty goods wholesaler Quality King is erecting a 560,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility.

“There are quite a number of large deals running around right now and space is definitely getting absorbed, especially in large blocks,” Schwartzberg said.

Rechler Equity Partners, he added, has done a good job since acquiring its portfolio.

“I think they’re sitting in the driver’s seat,” he said.

Two years ago, Reckson Associates Realty Corp., looking to hone its niche in premium office space, sold its 5.9 million-square-foot Long Island industrial portfolio to Rechler Equity Partners for more than $300 million.

Rechler Equity’s mammoth portfolio now includes 2.5 million square feet in Hauppauge and 1.8 million square feet in the Airport Business Center in Bohemia, Rechler said.

When asked about noteworthy deals in the works, Rechler responded: “We have no space. We’re almost tapped out, which is a good thing.”

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