Where is Hauppauge?

As Seen in On Long Island March 2004

Geographically, the 1,400-acre Hauppauge Industrial Park is located in the center of Long Island, about 45 miles from Manhattan. That’s about a one hour drive on the Long Island Expressway. The Park area straddles two townships – Smithtown and Islip. Although most of the Park lies within self-created Hauppauge postal district (11788), the other borders of the huge business center extend into six neighboring communities. These include the community of Islandia (11722) to the east, Central Islip (also 11722) to the southeast and Brentwood (11717) to the south. To the west many firms in the Park call Commack (11725) home, while on the north side some firms are within the Smithtown (11787) postal district and use that address.

The 1,400 acres that make up the John V.N. Klein/Hauppauge Industrial Park, as it is officially known, are bordered by the Northern State Parkway on the north, which ends there and continues as Veteran’s Memorial Highway to the east. Vanderbilt Motor Parkway and the Long Island Expressway border the Park to the south, and the Sagtikos Parkway forms the western edge of the Park area.

Each community mentioned above has large residential areas surrounding the Park, along with six others nearby: Dix Hills, Nesconset, Lake Ronkonkoma, Bohemia, Great River and Deer Park. In total, more than 260,000 Long Island residents from 80,000 households of varying economic status live within 10-minute drive of the Park.

Long Island companies want to be in the Hauppauge Industrial Park. Just ask Richard Cohen, president of Ashlind Properties, a commercial and industrial real estate firm in Hauppauge.

“I know they want to be here,” Cohen says of the regional business community. Those with a Hauppauge address have access to a highly skilled labor pool, a convenient location directly off the Long Island Expressway and the Northern State Parkway, and an array of services provided by the Hauppauge Industrial Association – not to mention the many restaurants and retail outlets located nearby.

While many of these amenities spill over into surrounding areas, Cohen insists that Hauppauge is the place to be. And he is in a unique position to see the comings and goings at the Park. Some of the more well-known companies located there include Audiovox Corp., Standard Microsystems Corp., Home Box Office, Viacom, Reuters, Tiffen Manufacturing Corp. and Computer Associates.

“Property is expensive,” admits Cohen. “It’s gone up tremendously in the last year. You’re probably looking at a 15 percent increase, which is tremendous. As long as interest rates stay decent, it will keep going.”

Despite the high prices, companies are still moving into, out of and within the Park. Cohen brokered 11 deals in Hauppauge last year, including a January 2003 deal that leased a 53,390-square-foot industrial building at 150 engineers Rd. to Display Presentations, Ltd., a full service exhibition and events marketing firm. In March 2003, he handled the sale of a 32,600-square-foot industrial building at 73 Oser Ave. from Hatco Printing to Controlotron, a manufacturer of flowmeters. Cohen’s biggest deal was a lease/buyout agreement in October 2003 in which Sentry Technology Corp. purchased 70,000 square feet at 350 Wireless Blvd.

“I love Hauppauge,” says Cohen, adding “It’s the name, it’s the services they provide, it’s the amenities. It’s all right off the Expressway and there are a million places to eat. Labor is close by. It’s just a good place to be.”

Cohen isn’t the only real estate agent keeping himself busy in the Park. Doug Donatelli, a broker with Atlantic Property Services in Melville, handled several sales in the area last year. Donatelli and his partner David Rotter, represented the seller in a major sale at 100 Marcus Blvd. Boundless Corporation sold the 150,000-square-foot building to Hawkeye Electric, which moved from Patchogue. Boundless, which manufactures desktop display products, needed to downsize its operations. So, it is now leasing 40,000 square feet of its old building from Hawkeye Electric, which was represented by Jack O’Connor of C.B. Richard Ellis.

Donatelli and Rotter also listed a 25,000-square-foot building at 100 Oser Ave. They represented the landlord, Anwar Chitayat, while Cohen of Ashlind Properties represented the tenant, The Emerald Group. Donatelli and Rotter are also looking for tenants to rent 57,000 square feet at 110 Oser Ave.

In other area news, Tony Gerrato of Newmark of Long Island handled the lease of 20,400 square feet at 85 Engineers Road to the Joint apprenticeship & Training Committee, an electrical union. Sensory Lighting and Sound, Inc., decided to stay in the 7,500-square-foot building it has been leasing at 651 Old Willets Path.

Greiner-Maltz, a commercial, office and industrial real estate firm in Woodbury, reported seven property sales in Hauppauge in 2003. Those included 17,000-square-foot building at 65 Davids Dr., a 20,000-square-foot building at 123 Marcus Blvd., and a 10,000-square-foot building at 355 Kennedy Drive. The largest transaction was for a 171,585-square-foot building at 45 Gilpin Ave. The remaining properties are 60,000 square feet at 70 Commerce Dr., 30,000 square feet at 901 Motor Parkway, and 40,000 square feet at 180 Marcus Blvd.

In its quarterly reports, Newmark of Long Island reported a number of interesting transactions. Office leasing was steady, with such deals as the lease of a 32,000-square-foot building at 1393 Veterans Memorial Highway by Paychex. America’s MoneyLine Leased 3,374 square feet at 2150 Joshua’s Path. Countrywide Financial leased 9,573 square feet at 100 Motor Parkway, while Robert Half International leased 2,741 square feet at the same location. Newmark also reported the third quarter sale of a 27,000-square-foot office building at 515-517 Route 111. The sale price was $2.6 million.

On the industrial side, Newmark reported the lease of 47,000 square feet at

350 Kennedy Drive to Aeroflex Inc. Newmark of Long Island also reported industrial sales in Hauppauge: 48,370 square feet at 150 Wireless Blvd. and 32,000 square feet at 75 Oser Ave.

So, why are so many companies establishing a presence in Hauppauge? Donatelli credits what he calls the Hauppauge “mystique.” “Hauppauge remains the Mecca of Industrial real estate,” he says. “The buildings here carry tremendous value. There’s a lot of cohesiveness amongst all the companies in the park. There’s a lot of mystique about it – kind of like the Manhattan of industrial real estate on Long Island.

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