Edward Blumenfeld's development firm is getting plenty of attention these days with its giant retail projects planned for Deer Park and East Harlem.
But that's not all. His Syosset-based firm, Blumenfeld Development Group, Ltd., has retail projects planned or under construction in Brooklyn, Staten Island and Florida. It owns land for another project in North Carolina, and Blumenfeld said he's looking elsewhere.
The firm built its reputation on industrial-to-office conversions, including the 500,000 square foot Bulova Center developed almost 20 years ago in Jackson Heights, and, most recently, the former Fairchild Camera plant at 300 Robbins Lane in Syosset. But the firm clearly has shifted its attention and capital to shopping centers and developments outside of Nassau and Suffolk.
All for good reasons, Blumenfeld said in an interview last week.
His relatively small firm (70 employees) has fount it increasingly difficult in recent years to compete with the big real estate trusts, among them Reckson Associations Realty Corp., which have almost unlimited access to Wall Street capital to buy and construct new offices. "How's a little guy like me going to compete against the REITs?" he asked.
Also, said Blumenfeld, there's been little incentive to build new offices locally. "Construction costs have gone up, operating costs have gone up, real estate taxes have gone up, and real rents have not," he said. "With the office market, you're always looking at the bottom line."
Retail development, he said is less capital intensive.
And in building shopping centers, the firm is able to leverage the relationships that it has developed over the years with big national retailers. "Relationships are very important," Blumenfeld said.
He is well regarded as a shopping center developer, said Jeremy Isaac, a commercial space broker in the Jericho office or Ripco Real Estate. "They're very strong. They're very experienced, and they have a good relationship with the retailers."
Blumenfeld Development's putting those relationships to good use as it develops new projects.
Blumenfeld said the firm has received strong interest in its proposed outlet center in Deer Park. Site plans have been submitted to the Town of Bablyon.
And the firm expects to begin construction next year on its proposed East River Plaza power center, a shopping center tenanted by super-sized, suburban-style retails stores, at the five-acre former Washburn Wire factory in East Harlem. Prospective tenants include Home Depot and, possible Costco. The firm expects to lease space quickly once construction begins.
Meanwhile, Blumenfeld has fully leased its now-under-construction Bricktown Centre, a big-box center on 42 acres on Staten Island overlooking the Outerbridge Crossing. The center is leased to Bed Bath & Beyond, The Christmas Tree Store, Home Depot and Target.
Also planned are a 150,000 square foot community shopping center, called Fountain Retail Plaza, near Related Co.'s Gateway Center in East New York; a 300,000 square foot center on 50 acres in rapidly growing Port St. Lucie, Fla., and a five-acre project at a busy intersection in Delray Beach, Fla.
And the firm hasn't stopped looking. Where?
"Where developers are welcome," said Blumenfeld, noting that he is dismayed by the prevalence and strength on Long Island of NIMBYs (the acronym for Not in My Back Yard), anti-development forces usually led by residents opposed to new projects.
"You can have good development. We could co-exist," he said. "We're not looking or rape and pillage. We're looking to build good projects."