Reckson Signs Forest Labs to 57,050-SF Industrial-to-Office Conversion

NEW YORK CITY-Melville, NY-based Reckson Associates Realty Corp. will spend more than $3 million to convert a vacant industrial building it owns in the Hauppauge Industrial Park to office space. The build out is part of a single-tenant lease for the 57,050-sf property the REIT just signed with pharma firm Forest Laboratories Inc.

CB Richard Ellis senior vice president Bob Godfrey represented the tenant in the transaction. While he would not reveal specific financial details of the lease, Godfrey tells GlobeSt.com that Forest is paying less than $25 per sf for the space. “We got a better rate than we would have gotten in an office building,” he says. “Office space [in the area] is in the mid-$20s and we’re considerably below that.”

Reckson vice president of leasing Joe Caridi also refused to reveal details of the 12-year lease and said that it would be difficult if not impossible to come up with comparable area rents. “This was a conversion, so it’s a different type of animal,” Caridi tells GlobeSt.com. “So I don’t know if there’s anything you can actually compare it to.”