Developer readies first project in industrial park reboot

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A local developer has unveiled a $7 million project to redevelop a building on Motor Parkway, the first in the initiative to reimagine the Hauppauge Industrial Park.

Hauppauge-based Marlmar Associates is planning to demolish its 40,000-square-foot single-story building on nearly 3 acres at 410 Motor Parkway and replace it with a new four-story, 35,000-square-foot office building.

The new building will feature high-ceilings and loft-like spaces and includes food service operations on the ground level. The project, designed by Huntington-based WSJS Architects, has all approvals from the Town of Smithtown and takes advantage of the town’s recent rezoning of the industrial park that allows building heights of up to 65 feet on Motor Parkway.

Craig Padover, principal of Marlmar Associates, said the town’s zoning overlay district and recent sewer expansion paved the way for the redevelopment and similar projects in the future.

“The town has been very receptive,” Padover told LIBN. “This is the gateway site to the park and it will have the height and visibility for people coming off the expressway. It starts to set a tone for the park and attract millennials, helping to keep young people on Long Island.”

In January, the Hauppauge Industrial Association announced an economic study of the Hauppauge Industrial Park by the Regional Plan Association aimed at identifying opportunities for growth. The study is part of an initiative to redevelop existing properties to add rental housing and create a friendlier environment for millennials at the 11-square-mile park, which officials say is the second largest industrial park in the country.

Companies inside the park employ about 55,000 workers and generate more than $870 million a year in revenue and property taxes, according to a report from Stony Brook University.

Marlmar is seeking economic incentives for the redevelopment project from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency, which will consider the application at its monthly meeting on Thursday.