Huntington board OKs Canon HQ site plan

One of the largest construction projects proposed for Long Island - a $636-million, 668,296-square-foot headquarters building for Canon U.S.A. Inc. - passed one of its final major hurdles Thursday when the Huntington Town planning board approved a site plan in Melville for the imaging company.

The project has been a cause of concern for several years among Long Island business and political leaders, who worried the company, whose North American headquarters are now in Lake Success, would leave the Island altogether.

The five-member planning board unanimously approved construction of the five-story office building at the southwest corner of the Long Island Expressway South Service Road and Walt Whitman Road. There are also to be two multilevel parking garages totaling 500,000 square feet.

Canon is expected to bring about 2,000 jobs to Melville.

Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone said the project will be "a significant addition to the Route 110 Corridor" and should attract additional developers. Canon must now secure a building permit. Town spokesman A.J. Carter said Canon has pre-filed for the permit and is "weeks away" from getting it. Then construction can begin.

To make sure Canon would not leave the area, about $5 million in federal stimulus funds was used to improve roads near the Canon site. The state Transportation Department came up with another $8 million to add one lane each to the service roads between Exits 48 and 49 on the LIE to better handle traffic.

"This will be a tremendous shot in the arm" for Long Island, said Desmond Ryan, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, a developers' group. Ryan said Canon had looked at sites in Westchester County and New Jersey but was persuaded to stay here "because of our highly educated workforce."

The approval comes at a time when a large Melville-based company, OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc., is planning to leave for Ardsley, in Westchester County, taking with it about 200 high-tech jobs. OSI's move is to take place this summer.

Other major construction projects proposed for Long Island

The Lighthouse. This is among the most controversial because of its sheer size. Developers Charles Wang and Scott Rechler propose a mixed-use community around a renovated Nassau Coliseum, with 2,300 residential units, 1 million square feet of office space and 500,000 square feet of restaurants and retail outlets.

The former Grumman property in Bethpage. A 101-acre site that former Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi wanted to turn into an office park catering to biotechnology and new industries. New County Executive Ed Mangano is exploring those plans and others.

Calverton. Since the former Grumman Corp. left the vast Navy aircraft test site in the mid 1990s, a plethora of proposals has been offered for the site, including gaming casinos, office parks, hotels, amusement attractions and race tracks. Nothing firm has been decided.

Yaphank. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has proposed a $400-million affordable housing project for a 225-acre county-owned site.

The Heartland Town Square project. A $4-billion mini-city proposed for Brentwood's Pilgrim Psychiatric Center site that would include 9,130 housing units.

- JAMES BERNSTEIN