Town OKs $3.21M tax plan for Entenmann bakery site sale

The Entenmann's bakery building in Bay Shore, seen on Feb. 19, 2001. Its new owners want to turn the space into an industrial park for businesses in the food and beverage industry. Credit: Newsday / Don Jacobsen
The Islip Industrial Development Agency last week passed a $3.21 million inducement package toward the sale of the iconic Entenmann’s property in Bay Shore.
Its potential new owners, Suffolk County Industrial LLC of Melville, are looking to turn the 519,493-square-foot space at 1724 Fifth Ave. into a two- to six-tenant industrial park for businesses in the food and beverage industry.
Mark Fischl, a Long Island Power Authority trustee and one of the principals of the LLC, says they hope to close the $10.75 million purchase by March 1 and have tenants in by the start of the third quarter of this year. The old bakery ceased production at that site in August 2014.
The Islip IDA board, composed of the five Islip Town Board members, took up the inducement resolution at a meeting last month, where it passed its initial phase. A public hearing on the inducement was held on Dec. 30. No one attended that meeting, officials said. Approval of the package came at last Wednesday’s IDA board meeting.
The package includes a $112,000 savings in mortgage recording tax; $200,000 in sales tax savings for construction and a 15-year tax abatement worth $2.9 million.
“That was huge, that was absolutely huge,” Fischl said of the inducement’s passage in a phone interview. “The taxes were almost $900,000 a year and the IDA reduced them dramatically. I don’t think we would have been able to do this without it.”
Bimbo Bakeries USA, the current owner of the building and Entenmann’s parent company, still distributes baked goods out of the facility and will lease space following the sale, town officials have said. Nearly 180 jobs were lost when the factory was shuttered due to high operating costs.

A look at the Entenmann's Bakery property on 5th Avenue in Bay Shore. Its parent company was purchased by a Canadian company. Credit: Newsday / Don Jacobsen
The new tenants at the anticipated park — to be dubbed Entenmann’s Corporate Park — are expected to bring at least 150 jobs to the area.
“The passing of the authorizing resolution on the Entenmann’s site means that the legacy of this iconic building will continue,” Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in a statement. “I am delighted that this project will bring jobs to the area and revenue to the local economy.”
For now, Fischl says his team is “trying hard” to close on the sale before March 1 so that the tax inducement package can take effect starting January 2017. Plans include an additional $3 million to renovate the space.
“I have a couple of tenants I’m talking to and I have some leases out that I hope to get signed shortly,” Fischl said. “The project is moving forward.”
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