Former Melville warehouse to be converted to high-end office space

A former warehouse attached to the Refuge restaurant and bar along Route 110 in Melville has been converted to high-end office space, complete with access to on-site golf simulators and pickleball courts.

The 192,000-square-foot property, located at 515 Broad Hollow Rd., formerly served as a mostly industrial warehouse space for Restaurant Depot, which left the building about three years ago. The property’s owner, who is looking to lease about 50,000 square feet to office tenants, anticipates that the site’s access to adjoining recreation options would help office tenants recruit and retain employees by offering an atmosphere that promotes fun social activities.

“We felt that the property and its location warranted the investment in a change,” said Tony Biancaniello, owner of the site and president of Americorp Management of Williston Park. “However, we wanted it to be a new and modern change.”

Work on converting the property’s warehouse into office space began nearly two years ago, Biancaniello said. The developer has spent more than $10 million redeveloping the site, with individual recreational tenants investing more than a combined $4 million.    

EVO Payment Inc., a credit-card processing company, is a long-standing office tenant that has operated out of a 60,000-square-foot space at the site since around 2002.

Changes to the property include the addition of a 20,000-square-foot Push Fitness Club location, four pickleball courts, five golf simulator stations, a juice bar kiosk, a Saf-T-Swim location and the creation of two 20,000-square-foot open-air courtyards with free Wi-Fi access. 

Brokers marketing the property said designing offices with on-site dining and recreational offerings is a trend that has caught on in New York City and other parts of the country but has been slow to take off in the suburbs.  

While the Island's commercial real estate market has seen an increased demand for industrial space, the move to convert the warehouse to office space co-located with recreation options is "transformative" for the suburbs, said David Pennetta, executive director of brokerage Cushman & Wakefield’s Long Island office.

"This was the only other move that’s better than the industrial concept, given how hot the industrial market is right now,” Pennetta said. “In order for someone to take an industrial building and convert it to office, it has to be for a very good reason.”

Kyle Burkhardt, senior director at Cushman's local office, said access to activities like those at 515 Broad Hollow is another way employers can compete for talented young workers.

"By providing all these options, you're increasing millennial retention and recruitment," Burkhardt said. "The best way to increase productivity and keep your employees engaged is to keep them in the building."