"We know from experience that we are building users, but not building owners," says Bill Frost, VP Administration at EDO Corp. This is the second time in five years that EDO is selling real estate in the New York region. In 1996 they sold a property in College Point, NY.

EDO has been marketing the Deer Park property for sale and leaseback themselves since mid-2000, but after failing to complete negotiations with several potential suitors they hired Insignia/ESG to find a buyer and make the deal. The firm intends to lease back approximately half of the space for its own operations--roughly the amount of space it currently occupies--leaving up to 350,000 sf of office and warehouse space available to other users. "Our objectives are to remain as occupants," Frost says. "We are not looking for offers that require us to leave."

No asking price has been established for the property. The 80-acre site, located 3.5 miles off the Long Island Expressway, includes some land that is undeveloped. Insignia/ESG is now conducting pre-market studies to determine how much of the site can be developed and how.