BAY SHORE, LONG ISLAND
Overview
Location: Bay Shore, NY
Major Tenants: ShopRite
Size: 60,000sf
In April, 1991, G&S completed the acquisition of the 28.8 acre United Artists Bay Shore Drive-in, located on Sunrise Highway. The consensus in the development world had been that permits for a retail use would never be available due to community opposition. For many years, major developers had attempted to “zone” the site, but were turned down by the Township of Islip. G&S took a creative approach by working with community groups, residents and local government to formulate a development plan.
One of the underlying prior objections which prevented development of this site was the concern that it would exacerbate the continuing debilitation of the downtown area of Bay Shore. As a condition to the retail zoning, G&S committed itself to working with the Downtown Merchants Association and the Bay Shore Chamber of Commerce in order to help develop a plan for the revitalization of downtown Bay Shore. Through numerous discussions, it was determined that the Suffolk County Office Building (referred to as the MiniCenter) would need to be reconfigured. The MiniCenter was a large office building containing various county agencies that needed to be decentralized in order to allow for more appropriate development.
As a result, G&S embarked upon a ten-month process to have the County pass a resolution authorizing the sale of the MiniCenter. G&S proceeded in unifying a Republican and Democratic vote on the resolution (an effort deemed relatively impossible). The resolution was successfully passed. G&S found relocation sites for all the agencies and the building was subsequently purchased from the County by Touro College. G&S gained total support and zoning was granted within six months. G&S leased 10 acres of land to Home Depot, developed a 60,000sf. ShopRite supermarket and created the balance for a senior citizen housing project.
The property was successfully sold in 2016.