Long Island Construction Law does not own this content. This content was created by Claude Solnik, and was published to Long Island Press. To view the full article, please click here:
On Feb. 1, around 200 people gathered at Captain Bill’s Bayview House in Bay Shore for a meeting hosted by the Long Island Business Development Council.
Derek Trulson, a vice chairman of the New York office of JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle), spoke about what he called a “transformative” project as members of various chambers of commerce, officials, and civic groups listened.
Trulson took them through a PowerPoint presentation for Midway Crossing, a proposed life sciences development that would be at the intersection of rail, road and aviation.
It’s being designed as a public-private development including the Long Island Rail Road Ronkonkoma station and Long Island MacArthur Airport on a 179-acre plot.
Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter was among those attending the meeting regarding the $2.8 billion project to include 2.7 million square feet of mixed-use development and what Trulson calls “train-to-plane connectivity.”
“We were able to have an integrated conversation,” he said. “There were more than one or two applauses. We talked about how the project could happen, why it needs to happen, and its importance.”
John Cameron, managing partner at Woodbury-based Cameron Engineering & Associates, Midway Crossing’s lead engineer, also spoke. Midway Crossing is reaching a crossroads as it advances and key elements are put in place.
“We’ve had a number of presentations,” Cameron said. “This was a big business meeting for rolling out where we are.”
The Town of Islip and Suffolk County last year designated JLL as the master developer and authorized creating a local development corporation.
“The LDC would serve as the vehicle for development of the project,” Cameron added. “It’s been voted to be created.”
While JLL is based in Chicago, in the Northeast, it has a roughly $500 million business with about 1,200 employees in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, plus a Long Island office in Melville, Trulson said.
“JLL is worldwide. They’re headquartered in Chicago, but they have a major presence in the New York metro area,” Cameron said. “They’ve been able to bring national resources to move this along.”
In addition to New York operations, JLL has life sciences practices in Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Trulson has worked on projects with companies such as Nordstrom, Business Insider, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, T-Mobile, and Healthfirst.
“We did a study on public sources out there,” Trulson said of funding. “This project qualifies for $350-plus million. That’s how many buttons we hit.”
A vision for a life sciences hub, Midway Crossing calls for building a north terminal at the airport to truly integrate airport and railroad, along with other infrastructure.
“You need public infrastructure, the water lines, sewers, electric and some roadway improvement,” Cameron said.
Long Island Construction Law does not own this content. This content was created by Claude Solnik, and was published to Long Island Press. To view the full article, please click here:
John Caravella Esq., is a construction attorney and formerly practicing project architect at The Law Office of John Caravella, P.C., representing architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, and owners in all phases of contract preparation, litigation, and arbitration across New York and Florida. He also serves as an arbitrator to the American Arbitration Association Construction Industry Panel. Mr. Caravella can be reached by email: John@LIConstructionLaw.com or (631) 608-1346.
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