Men on the Move gets tax breaks for new headquarters
The building at 150 Crossways Park Dr. West in Woodbury, where Men on the Move plans to move, is seen on March 2, 2017. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A moving and self-storage company plans to expand its headquarters in Nassau County instead of relocating to Queens, officials said.
Men on the Move will purchase a vacant office building at 150 Crossways Park Dr. West in Woodbury and construct a 90,000-square-foot addition.
The company is currently based in Floral Park in a building that has been sold.
“They want to stay in Nassau County because most of their employees are here,” Men on the Move attorney John C. Farrell said earlier this month. “But a move to Queens [was] a possibility without assistance from the county.”
The county’s Industrial Development Agency granted tax breaks to Men on the Move for the $18.6 million project.
They consist of a sales-tax exemption of up to $350,200 for the purchase of construction materials, equipment and fixtures; $132,100 off the mortgage recording tax; and a 15-year deal with a freeze on the property tax rate for one year and increases of 1.66 percent in each of the next 14 years.
In return for the aid, the company will preserve 72 jobs and create 11 jobs by 2021. Of these positions, 15 are independent contractors who work as sales people, IDA officials said.
Records show Men on the Move employees earn, on average, $150,000 for a manager and $25,500 for a laborer, excluding medical and retirement benefits. Independent sales people earn $209,500 on average. The company is owned by founder John Beyer.
The project will increase the company’s headquarters space by 47 percent, and include a self-storage facility and warehouse for short-term storage on the site.
IDA executive director Joseph J. Kearney, noting past criticism of the agency for giving tax breaks to self-storage facilities, said, “This isn’t two employees, and the company purchases 87 percent of its goods and services in Nassau County. We are happy to have them,” he said.
Previously, the Nassau IDA and the Glen Cove IDA granted tax breaks to Men on the Move facilities in Garden City and Glen Cove, respectively.
