Physical therapy firm gets tax breaks for Melville consolidation

Professional Physical Therapy, a fast-growing operator of therapy centers based in Uniondale, plans to relocate to Melville.

The move will bring 131 employees to Suffolk from Nassau and Queens, and the company said it will hire 60 more employees over the next two years.

The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency approved estimated tax benefits of up to $911,956 for Professional on Thursday.

Professional, which has its corporate office in Uniondale and its billing office in Whitestone, Queens, plans to invest $3.7 million to consolidate the two operations into one 33,000- to 42,000-square-foot space that it will renovate at 320 S. Service Rd., a 65,000-square-foot office building in Melville.

The company, which operated 17 outpatient physical and hand therapy centers in 2012, now operates 147 in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It has a total of 1,703 employees.

The IDA approved the company for a sales tax exemption of up to $260,040 on the purchase of renovation materials and office fixtures, and a 15-year reduction in property taxes that could save $651,916 if the company occupies 42,000 square feet of space.

The company’s corporate operations are “fragmented,” George Papadopoulos, founding partner and chief development officer for Professional, said at the Thursday IDA meeting. “Unfortunately, we can’t function that way anymore.”

Last month, Professional acquired therapy centers in Merrick and Florham Park, New Jersey, its 29th and 30th purchases in the last five years. Thomas H. Lee Partners, a private equity firm based in Boston, is the majority owner of the company.

“Our goal is to continue to grow to become the primary provider of physical therapy on the northeast coast,” Papadopoulos said.