Grubb & Ellis brokers LI sale.

Grubb & Ellis Company has served its client, the town of Riverhead on Long Island, NY, by appraising the land, procuring the buyer, and brokering the sale of one of the largest single tracts of office and industrial property ever sold on Long Island: 491-acre Phase I of Enterprise Park at Calverton.

The Phase I site includes 18 buildings with approximately 900,000 SF of office and industrial space and the ability to build an additional two million SF. Developer Jan Burman purchased the property for $17 million. Burman has tapped Grubb & Ellis as a sales and leasing agent for this space and as an advisor for further development. Shortterm leases for approximately 500,000 SF in Phase I buildings were already arranged through the town of Riverhead.

Melville office-based Grubb & Ellis executive vice president Jack O'Connor, along with his associate from the New York office, vice chairman of the board Dick Seeler, headed the Grubb & Ellis team that has provided real estate advisory services to the town of Riverhead since 1997.

Formerly the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant at Calverton, the site was assembled by the US Navy in the 195Os and leased to the Grumman Corporation for final assembly and testing of military aircraft. In reaction to the federal defense downsizing, in 1994 the Navy and the town began discussing the site's future, and in 1998 the land was transferred to the town of Riverhead Community Development Agency pursuant to a public law.

The primary goals of the town of Riverhead are uses that will enhance the quality of life and generate jobs and revenue. Because of the site's location and former uses, it is subject to rulings by the Pine Barrens Commission, the Suffolk Health Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Grubb & Ellis worked with three successive town administrations, the CDA, and the Riverhead Development Corporation to provide recommendations and then to obtain appropriate buyers for this property.

Presently, of the remaining developable land, roughly 215 acres will become a private airfield based around the long ex-Grumman main runway, and the balance is zoned for family entertainment. This use may include hotels, golf courses, tennis courts, ball fields, and the like. A second existing, smaller runway bisects a portion of that site; zoning for that runway is presently under consideration.