A top executive of Hartz Mountain Industries Inc., said Wednesday that it will raze the building that currently houses Newsday and its closed printing plant.
Gus Milano, Hartz president and COO, speaking at a Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island panel discussion on the outlook for commercial real estate, said that once the 413,500-square-foot building is torn down, the developer will construct two buildings on the 48.3-acre site at 235 Pinelawn Road, Melville, probably in 2020.
The plans, he said, likely will include a building of 600,000-square-feet and another of 200,000-square-feet, both largely for industrial and warehouse-distribution use.
“We see a great opportunity here,” Milano said. “I expect we’re going to do fine” attracting tenants. He did not specify what kind of tenants Hartz will be seeking.
Another panelist, Mario Asaro, president of Melville-based Industry One Realty Corp., said industry executives see a lot of opportunities for Hartz. “We do have a lack of buildings” for companies needing about 20,000-square-feet of industrial space.
Milano said Hartz chose to buy the Newsday building, which has housed the Long Island daily newspaper since the late 1970s, because of its proximity to major roads. In October, Hartz agreed to pay $54.5 million to the owner of the Newsday site, Chicago-based Tribune Media.
Newsday is said to be considering office-space in the Melville area for its editorial and advertising staff. Printing and distribution have been outsourced.
Melissa Naeder, a retail specialist in the Melville office of Cushman & Wakefield, said her chief concern was “becoming more creative” in attracting “the next generation” of retailers, such as specialty shops and holiday stores.“My job is to fill space,” Naeder said. “I need to get creative here.”