Breslin son, protege partner in brokerage

The father is 84, and the son is 49. So who kicks whom out of bed every morning?

The answer is simple: Dad, iconic Long Island developer Wilbur Breslin, is in the office so early every day -- 6:30 a.m. -- that, he says, his son, Kenneth Breslin, has not yet rolled over. So he can't kick his son out of bed.

But close as they are, father and son have now taken different paths in the real estate industry on the Island.

Kenneth Breslin and a young man he once mentored at the legendary Breslin Realty Development Corp. in Garden City, Jayson Siano, 34, have formed a new company, Sabre Real Estate Llc.

It's in the same office building as Breslin Realty, and it will focus exclusively on the brokerage business. Breslin Realty is in the business of developing shopping centers, including The Hub shopping center in Hempstead village.

Sabre, formed in May, already has done about eight deals -- the largest locating a Modell's Sporting Goods store in a 16,000-square-foot former Walgreens space in Oceanside. Sabre has a dozen brokers and a support staff of six.

Breslin Realty was thinking of starting a retail brokerage inside the company but its name is so closely associated with development that potential customers might become confused, Kenneth Breslin said. So he and Siano started Sabre. Siano had worked at Breslin in the early 2000s and left for a few years to be at CB Richard Ellis on Long Island before returning to help start the new firm.

Sabre will make use of all social media and will "constantly" bring in new broker trainees, Kenneth Breslin said. But they have big shoes to fill.

"I'm here on a Saturday and a Sunday, and it's rare that Mr. [Wilbur] Breslin's car is not in the parking lot," Siano said.