Law Firm Takes 49,000 SF on Long Island

GARDEN CITY, NY-The owners of Long Island’s first “green” commercial property have signed L’Abbate, Balkan, Colavita & Contini to 49,000 sf. The law firm reached a deal with Albanese Organization and Castagna Realty for 15 years and became the first tenant to sign on the dotted line for space at soon-to-be-reopened 1001 Franklin Ave.

The law firm’s lease covers the entire third floor and part of the lower level of the three-story, 115,000-sf property. The exact lease rates were not available; however, asking rent for office space at the property averages $32 per sf and ground-level retail space hovers between $50 and $70 per sf.

L’Abbate, Balkan, Colavita & Contini will relocate to 1001 Franklin from its current offices at 1050 Franklin–which is also owned by the Albanese Organization–on Sept. 1. The firm had outgrown its space and spent two years looking for other alternatives in the market, according to CB Richard Ellis senior vice president Thomas Kaufman, who repped the tenant. The existing relationship with Albanese was one factor in the firm’s decision to move to 1001 Franklin, adds Kaufman, who was joined by Theodore P. Sasso, Jr. and Edward Fitzsimons, also senior vice presidents with CBRE. Russell Matthews acted in-house for the ownership.