Commercial Broker of the Year (Industrial) Richard Cohen Ashlind Properties

Richie Cohen has never met a deal he didn’t like and rival brokers call Cohen the hardest working man in commercial real estate. Last year was no exception.
As broker/owner of Ashlind Properties, Cohen brokered leases and sales of nearly 1 million square feet of Long Island industrial property in 2009. Ashlind’s deals included a 120,000-square-foot sublease to Rubie’s Costume and a 46,000-square-foot lease for LNK International in Hauppauge. Sales included a 31,500-square-foot Hauppauge building for $3.75 million, a 20,000-square-foot building for $1.9 million and another 20,000-square-foot building for $2 million.

TransPacific Inc., an importer of men’s and women’s shoes, based in Plainview, N.Y.,
has purchased a 30,000 s/f industrial building for its offices and a distribution center after
searching for new space for four years.

TransPacific purchased 26 Ranick Rd., Hauppauge, a property that was occupied by
only one tenant for almost 40 years, WA Book Service Inc., a book distributor that recently
ceased operations. The seller was Racanelli Associates, the original owner of the property.

The property’s biggest attraction, said Richard Cohen, president of Ashlind Properties,
was its price. The transaction, valued at more than $2 million, represented a 25% drop in
the market value of industrial space, which saved the company more than $750,0000.

“TransPacific’s patience in seeking the right space at the right price paid off for them
with this deal,” said Cohen, who represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction.

TransPacific, which sells shoes under the Moretti, La Milano, Faranzi and NXT
brands, and is expected to relocate this month, has engaged Ashlind to lease space in the
building that it does not intend to use.
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Island Technology Inc., a diversified manufacturer that recently launched a solar
power subsidiary, bought a 35,000 s/f industrial building, in a deal arranged by Richard
Cohen of Ashlind Properties.

Island Technology, previously in 10,000 s/f in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., bought 131
Heartland Blvd., Edgewood, from private investors for $3.12 million, or about $90 per s/f.

“It’s a magnificent building,” Cohen said of the property, which was built in 1987, has
20-foot ceilings, three loading docks, one drive-in door and 1200 amp power. Until earlier
this year, the property was home to Sartorius Mechatronics Corporation, which moved to
Bohemia.

Island Technology plans to install one of its own newly launched solar energy systems
at the site to provide a “solar garden” to demonstrate the capabilities of its recently Direct
Grid capabilities to visiting customers.

The company said it decided to relocate to Edgewood’s Heartland Business Park
because it is home to many growing companies on Long Island, and is located just outside
metropolitan New York.

Jeff Schwartzberg and Chris Costa of Sutton & Edwards Inc., as well as Ron Lazar and
Phil Shwom of Schacker Real Estate, represented the seller of the Edgewood building.

Fragrancenet.com, a Hauppauge-based online seller of perfume and skin lotions, has bought a building in Deer Park where it will house administrative offices, and warehouse and shipping operations, the company said.
The company bought the 130,000-square foot building at 900 Grand Blvd. for $6.5 million in a deal that closed Feb. 18. It plans to renovate and move in by August.
“It’s a great building. It was perfect for us,” Dennis Apfel, chairman and chief executive of Fragrancenet.com, said in a news release. The building is big enough to allow for growth, he said.
The transaction was arranged by Richard Cohen, president of Ashlind Properties of Hauppauge. He represented both the buyer and the seller, MAS Boulevard Associates, said Ashlind’s publicist, Alan Wax.
Fragrancenet.com, founded in 1997, is publicly traded on the Pink Sheets under the symbol FGNT. The company describes itself as “the leading online retailer of discounted, genuine, brand-name fragrances and beauty products . . . with more than 10,000 items.”

There is apparently a lot of money to be made in repairing old cell phones. Just ask Communications Wireless Group of Bohemia. On second thought, don’t ask them anything. We tried, and they never returned our phone calls, telling their real estate broker they would prefer to remain silent.
Their money talks for them, however.
The privately held company just paid $11 million for a 149,000-square-foot building in Farmingdale to use as office and warehouse space. Only three months ago, CWG moved into a 90,000-square-foot headquarters building in Bohemia, from a smaller facility in Holbrook. CWG acquired the Bohemia building 14 months ago and renovated it “soup to nuts,” said Richard Cohen, president of Hauppauge-based Ashlind Properties. Cohen brokered the deals for both the Bohemia and Farmingdale buildings.
The company says of itself that about 1 billion cell phones are sold annually worldwide, and that means “that roughly 1 billion old cell phones have come to the end of their first life. We reuse, recycle and refurbish wireless devices . . . and send them back down the supply chain to start a new life.”
So why are these guys so under the radar? “They’re low-key doing business in a professional manner,” Cohen said.

Furniture retailer Raymour & Flanigan has bought the 248,000-square-foot distribution center that it’s been leasing in Central Islip.
The seller was Jeffrey Rosmarin, who had leased the property to Raymour & Flanigan with a two-year option to buy for about $21 million. The building with 40 loading docks and 40-foot ceilings was once a warehouse for Seaman’s Furniture.
Richard Cohen of Hauppauge-based Ashlind Properties brokered the deal, with an assist from Ashlind colleague Michael Landsman.

Ashlind brokers 536,000 SF in first half

Hauppauge-based Ashlind Properties reports it sold or leased 536,000 square feet of industrial space in the first half of 2009.

The first half included five sales totaling more than 104,000 square feet and six leases with totaling 400,000 square feet, according to Ashlind owner Richard Cohen.
First half leases in Hauppauge included 120,000 square feet at 900 Grand Blvd. subleased to Rubie’s Costume; 34,120 square feet at 1818 Pacific St. subleased to Fusion Auto Finance; 25,080 square feet at 100 Oser Ave. leased to Precare Corp.; and 46,000 square feet at LNK International at 60 Oser Ave.

Ashlind’s sales included a 31,500 square-foot building at 160 Oser Ave. in Hauppauge that Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals bought from Vincenza Properties for $3.75 million; a 20,000 square-foot building at 380 Rabro Dr. in Hauppauge that Reliance Communications bought from CP Industries for $1.9 million; and a 20,000 square-foot building at 195 Oser Ave. in Hauppauge that investor Kyu Teck Chung bought from Omega Displays for $2 million.

Cohen said that prices for Long Island industrial properties are down by nearly 30 percent from a year ago, but the market appears to have bottomed.

Richard Cohen
Real Estate Broker

Richard J. Cohen, founder and principal of Hauppauge-based real estate firm Ashlind Properties, has received a 2008 Power Broker Award from real estate data provider CoStar Group, Inc. Cohen, who founded Ashlind Properties in 1990, said the firm completed deals in 2008 totaling about one million square feet – including the sale of 23 acres in Yaphank to Global Tissue Group and a 90,000-square-foot building in Bohemia to CMB Wireless Group. He is a resident of Hewlett Harbor.

Richard Cohen
Principal
Ashlind Properties

The founder of this Hauppauge-based firm, Cohen recently received a CoStar Power Broker Award, which recognizes top commercial real estate brokers. He founded Ashlind nearly 20 years ago, but received the award for being a top industrial leasing broker for 2008. Ashlind last year completed deals totaling about 1 million square feet, including the sale to Global Tissue of 23 acres in Yaphank for a 180,000-sqaure-foot plant and warehouse, and the purchase by CMB Wireless of a 90,000-square-foot building in Bohemia. Ashlind Properties’ clients include Corwood Laboratories, LNK International, P.C. Richard & Sons, Elm Global Logistics and Broadridge Financial.

Hauppauge-based Ashlind Properties has subleased 40,000 square feet to Able Rigging Contractors in Deer Park.
Ashlind principal Rich Cohen and Michael Landsman represented Able. Cohen also represented Island Swimming Sales, which subleased the space.
CP Industries sold a 20,000 square-foot building on 1.41 acres at 380 Rabro Drive Hauppauge to wireless wholesaler Reliance Communications for about $1.9 million.
Ashlind’s Cohen represented both buyer and seller in the sale. Cohen also negotiated a lease back of 5,000 square feet to CP Industries.