JERICHO, NY-Long Island-based bank Astoria Federal Savings will launch its new multifamily and commercial real estate lending department at One Jericho Plaza, a 298,000-square-foot class A office complex in Nassau County, says leasing agent The Rochlin Organization. The thrift, a subsidiary of Astoria Financial Corp., has signed a 55,000-square-foot long-term lease here to spearhead the company’s re-entry into multifamily lending space in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

“This is one of the largest deals on Long Island this year so far,” says Adam Rochlin, president of The Rochlin Organization, in an interview with GlobeSt.com. The building, owned and managed by Woodbridge, NJ-based Onyx Equities LLC, is home to financial and professional tenants such as Ernst & Young, Nathan’s Famous, Utica Insurance, RBC Dain Rauscher, Morgan Stanley, IBM, Deloitte, Travelers Insurance, Mutual of America, Kintetsu World Express and Purolator Courier. “There an understated elegance about the building,” Rochlin says. “We are 93% occupied and this lease brought us to just under 95%.”

The complex, adjacent to Exit 40 of the Long Island Expressway, is 20 minutes from New York City and features 24-hour security desks, an on-site fitness center, cafes and storage space. Asking rents start at $40 per square foot, Rochlin says. “Whether you are in Suffolk County, Queens, the North Shore or South Shore, we seem to be twenty minutes from everyone,” he adds. “It is a top location with Fortune 500 tenants.”