Developer Jan Burman purchased the 18-building complex for $17 million. Grubb & Ellis executive vice president Jack O'Connor, from the firm's Melville office, and his Manhattan associate, vice chairman of the board Dick Seeler represented the seller and procured the buyer. The commercial real estate firm will serve as sales and leasing agent for the space going forward and will advise Burman regarding further development of the land.

Phase I comprises roughly 900,000 square feet of office and industrial space and the ability to build an additional two million square feet of undeveloped space. The total site, including Phase I, is roughly 2,900 acres and G & E will continue to broker on behalf of the seller for the remaining 1,500 developable acres. Under the current plan, of the remaining developable land, 215 acres are earmarked for a private airfield and the rest is zoned for family entertainment. Options under consideration are hotels, golf courses, tennis courts and ball fields.

The site was assembled in the 1950s as the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant at Calverton. It was leased to Grumman Corp. for assembly and testing of military aircraft. Defense downsizing resulted in the land being transferred to the town of Riverhead Community Development Agency in 1988. In the process of procuring a buyer and piecing together the sale, Grubb & Ellis worked with three successive town administrations and a laundry list of local, state and federal groups before reaching a deal with Burman.