Nassau: some movement on development

A Nassau County legislative committee will hear testimony Thursday about economic development efforts under CE Edward Mangano, so we thought we would bring you up to date on a few developments.

An arm of the Rechler family real estate empire is moving from Melville to Plainview, in Nassau.

Rechler Equity Partners is getting about $5 million in government assistance, most of it in federal recovery funds, to refurbish its 1950-ish building at 85 South Service Road near the P.C. Richards store you see as you pass Exit 48 eastbound on the LIE.

There was a lot of discussion about the intricacies of the deal at a recent meeting of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, but IDA chairman Jeffery Seltzer final summed it up: “Basically, they’re moving their headquarters from Suffolk to Nassau,” he said.

The Rechler deal and a change in an existing deal with Arizona Ice Tea in Westbury, both approved at the IDA’s Dec. 3rd meeting, were the first concrete actions of the Nassau IDA under Mangano, who took office 11 months ago.

IDA officials said the Rechler project will create 44 new jobs, plus the usual bump in temporary construction jobs. The Arizona deal will create 12 jobs, they said, but Arizona had been lobbied heavily by other jurisdictions — including a plea from the lieutenant governor of New Jersey — to create its new training and conference center for its international sales staff elsewhere.

During the last few meetings, IDA officials have been talking about the relationships they have been building with English, French and South Korean officials in an effort to lure business to Nassau.

They’re also planning a meeting with the next few weeks with U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) incoming chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security to discuss the prospects of getting defense and homeland security firms interested on the county, particularly the Morelly Center for Homeland Security in Bethpage — Mangano’s hometown.