CIBS News
By Gary Joel Schacker, SIOR
Recently, I attended an informative symposium at Hofstra ‘s William F. Breslin Center for Real Estate Studies entitled, "Real Estate, Restoration and Transportation on Long Island." The Panel was composed of experts in various areas of real estate, business and transportation. The panel included Marianne Garvin, President and CEO, Community Development Corporation of Long Island; Marc Herbst, Executive Director, Long Island Contractors Association; Joan McDonald, Commissioner, New York State Department of Transportation; CIBS-LI, Immediate Past President David Pennetta and Principal, Oxford and Simpson Realty; Matthew Whalen, Senior Vice President, Avalon Bay Communities; and Helena Williams, President, MTA Long Island Railroad.
A few key points emerged from the panel discussion:
By far, the topic of choice was Transit Oriented Developments (TOD's). Wikipedia defines them as: "A transit-oriented development (TOD) is a mixed-use residential and commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership. A TOD neighborhood typically has a center with a transit station or stop (train station, metro station, tram stop, or bus stop), surrounded by relatively high-density development with progressively lower-density development spreading outward from the center. TODs generally are located within a radius of one-quarter to one-half mile (400 to 800 m) from a transit stop, as this is considered to be an appropriate scale for pedestrians."
It's my observation that younger people today are moving west instead of east. For so many years, the growth was eastward to Long Island from Queens and the City and now for the first time, it appears to have been reversed. The younger generations want active, vibrant communities that are more "city like" than traditional suburbia. The tide is changing.
Local TOD communities can support the need for younger working people and provide them with easy, rapid access to Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens and allow them to remain on Long Island. What's the matter with this? Although our communities continue to battle against residential development, there is traction for development and growth. The Ronkonkoma Hub and Wyandanch Rising have both garnered much support. Both projects are located around train stations. Many local leaders from villages and other municipalities are starting to realize the need for this type of development and are moving in this direction. However, there still remains a steadfast reluctance by many residents to any development near and around their homes. A sign that perceptions may be changing is that Avalon Bay finally achieved site plan approval by the Town of Huntington to construct 379 units on a 26.6 acre site. This succeeded after many years of skirmishes and public battles with local residents and civic leaders. The Avalon TOD will set the standard for future privately developed transit oriented projects.
The Long Island Railroad will be adding a new track from Ronkonkoma to Farmingdale. Currently, there is only one track between the two, which severely limits scheduling, efficiency and safety. This new "double track" will be a great enhancement to the system. As the LIRR already owns all the land for this, condemnation is unnecessary. Moreover, the project has been fully funded. The LIRR is also looking at creating service directly to Long Island McArthur Airport. This would be an economic boost to the area around the airport and would help reduce the burden on other regional airports.
Much attention is being focused on the potential re-opening of the Farmingdale train station at Route 110. And, there are numerous committees studying ways to enhance the transportation in the Route 110 corridor. Suggestions including high speed bus service and/or light rails have been put forward. In addition, the Town of Huntington recently established a committee to address the future of Melville.
I recently attended a Nets game at the Barclays Center (they lost). We took the train from Hicksville to Jamaica, debarked from the car, and the train to Brooklyn was on the adjacent track ready to go. It was a short ride to the Atlantic terminal and a three-minute walk to the Center. After the game, there were two long trains ready to head back to Jamaica, and, of course, the train back to Hicksville was there ready to go. It was an easy ride. No gas, tolls, parking issues or traffic to contend with. I understand that the LIRR ridership to Brooklyn on game days is up over 300 percent. Why? It's easy, fast and inexpensive. This type of service combined with entertainment is what the younger generations want and what we need in the region to remain competitive.
At the Symposium, I addressed a question to Helena Williams inquiring whether there was any future in freight transit, and intermodals. The answer was that the LIRR in the past used a 3rd party to manage the freight transit. Due to logistical issues and track issues, it was not particularly expedient. However, with the addition of the Ronkonkoma to Farmingdale double track and the fact that there is an intermodal facility recently opened and located in Yaphank, the LIRR plans to study this potential further in the near future.
After listening to experts and seeing first hand some progress in terms of regional transportation, I wonder if young people, who are gravitating toward the city today, will come back tomorrow with their children and families. Will they become NIMBYS or will they come back recognizing the changes that have been taking place that are making Long Island competitive, vibrant, useful and fun? Will they return and take advantage of the other benefits and beauty Long Island has to offer? |
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As appeared in Newsday, September 5, 2012
By David Pennetta
Forty years after Nassau County opened the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in a corner of windswept Mitchel Field, the opportunity to foster genuine economic growth in this vital space stands greater than at any time in the past four decades.
Mitchel Field -- centrally located, girded by north-south and east-west arteries, accessible to the Island's population centers yet buffeted from residential neighborhoods -- is the ideal platform for the kind of condensed, 21st-century pedestrian-oriented community so conspicuously lacking on Long Island. Currently, Nassau is reviewing the credentials of several potential master developers before turning one of them loose to develop the space.
It's a fantastic opportunity to energize the region, if politics can stay out of the way this time.
Disagreements between town and county snarled some earlier development attempts. Now, both Nassau County and Hempstead Town agree on the fundamentals: that developers can create as many as 500 new housing units in Mitchel Field; that a new arena can be built in this 77-acre space; and that developers can construct the amenities and commercial space, the stores, restaurants, schools, medical facilities, research space, complete streets and parkland that could make Mitchel Field Long Island's next big thing.
There's no timeline set for choosing the master developer, but the county should move forward with all possible speed -- the current Coliseum lease expires in two years -- and then stick to the plan, providing the committed support that will be essential for development to take place.
Above all, the county needs to empower the developers to do what they do so well: imagine, plan, finance and create the environment that attracts people and retains businesses.
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As appeared in Long Island Business News
August 9, 2012
By David Pennetta
When Nassau County took over Mitchel Field and opened the Veterans Memorial Coliseum 40 years ago this spring, the prime-located, 77-acre parcel seemed ripe for development. The new arena marque facing Hempstead Turnpike lit up with pro basketball, major league hockey and arena football game dates. Touring rock superstars filled the house. Conference planners booked space. A big hotel went up. The site’s potential seemed limitless.
Remarkably, nothing much has happened since. Sports team came, sports teams played, sports teams departed for other markets. Concert dates fell off. Conference bookings disappeared. The arena became a political football and the surrounding acres remained cracked pavement. The largest developable space in Nassau County 40 years ago remains the largest developable space in Nassau County today.
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Recognizing Long Island's critical need for the economic and physical redevelopment of central Nassau, CIBS/The Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island has endorsed the Town of Hempstead's vision of a mixed-use/best-use plan for Mitchel Field, calling on Nassau County to partner with the town and other stakeholders in the interest of accomplishing what's best for Long Island.
Hempstead's rezoning program would revitalize the 77-acre heart of the former air field by fostering redevelopment of the archaic Veterans Memorial Coliseum while encouraging a broad range of amenities and services, including housing, office space, retail, conference center, high-tech research and development facilities, healthcare and nursing, transit options, walkable plazas and complete streets, recreation and cultural spaces. While the town controls zoning, the county owns the land and approves development plans on it.
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Back one day in 1992, several prominent Long Island brokers held a far-ranging, lively conversation about the real estate industry. The discussion touched on many important areas, not least of which was the need to raise ethical standards and overall professionalism. No definitive answers resulted, but everyone agreed they should keep talking.
Out of that conversation the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society (CIBS) of Long Island was born. This year marks CIBS' 20th anniversary; it is also my 20th year with CIBS. I'm privileged to serve as president during this celebratory year and I'm pleased to highlight some accomplishments of our first two decades for you.
Every CIBS member commits to the organization's Code of Conduct defining ethical behavior and professionalism. CIBS continues to raise the bar when it comes to ethics. Earlier this spring, our organization updated the code to address the practice of sharing commissions on co-brokered deals, often a contentious topic in part because parties too often don't document their terms. Now, CIBS requires the listing broker to put commission rates and terms on paper and make them available in a timely manner. Breaking the code is grounds for expulsion. CIBS is among the first commercial real estate organizations in the country taking a stand on this issue.
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