Long Island Defense Contractor Offers 725,000-SF Site in Sale/Leaseback Deal

DEER PARK, NY-A Long Island defense contractor that employs 650 workers here isn’t looking to move away–it just want someone to buy its building.EDO Corp. is seeking to sell and then partially lease back its 725,000-sf property located at 455 Commack Road property in Deer Park, NY. The company acquired the building when it bought AIL Technologies in April 2000, but never intended to hold ownership of the office/industrial property.

“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.”