Northport Village hires brokerage firm for potential acquisition of Brosnan building

At the September 19 Northport Village Board of Trustees meeting, the board unanimously approved the authorization of brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield of Long Island (C&W) to represent the Village in the potential acquisition of the William J. Brosnan building on Laurel Avenue.

The Brosnan building is one of three Northport-East Northport School District properties currently up for sale or lease.

According to the representation agreement, C&W will use its efforts to find, negotiate for and secure the acquisition of the district-owned building to the satisfaction of the Incorporated Village of Northport. “C&W will negotiate the business terms of any purchase and sale agreement, lease or sublease,” the agreement states, with the term ending in September 2024.

As per the agreement, there is a 3% commission of the total sales price to be paid by the Incorporated Village of Northport to C&W at the time of closing or transfer of title.

On September 12, David Pennetta, the executive managing director at C&W of Long Island, sent a letter to Scott Berfas, the senior managing director at Newmark, the realty firm representing the school district in the sale or lease of the properties.

“The Village has been hugely successful over its 129 years of incorporation,” the letter reads. “The Greater Northport area features beaches, parks, boat clubs, golf courses, a LIRR Station and even the largest oil-fired generator on the East Coast.” Indicating that Northport Village is among the top downtowns on Long Island, Pennetta continues by stating, “With success comes challenges, some of which include open-space preservation, downtown parking, and the safeguarding of the community’s strong ‘Sense of Place.’ The few larger parcels of land in the Village have been a talking point over the past decade and more recently over the past year have been discussed in the Village’s open forums.”

“The Village Board feels this acquisition by the Village would be an instrumental component in serving the needs and desires of village residents and greater Northport community,” the letter continues. Pennetta then invited Berfas to meet in order to discuss the basis of a “mutually beneficial transaction for both the school district and the Village.”

Northport Village Mayor Donna Koch first vocalized an interest in pursuing the purchase of the Brosnan building in February 2023, after taking an “informal tour” of the property with district administration. “With the selling of Laurel Avenue, it’s a great opportunity for the Village to start thinking about if we’d like to move there. We can move our entire operation there,” Mayor Koch said at that time. The building would be able to hold all employees currently at Village Hall, plus the highway department and the treasurer’s department, “and still have a lot of room left over,” Koch added. If the police department was to move into the building as well, a section would have to be built out to meet the department’s needs.

“I’d love to see a community center. I’d love to see the youth center basketball be able to play there,” she noted in February, during preliminary public conversations about the purchase. She also added that part of the space could still be leased to tenants, including Island Kids Early Childhood Center, which currently occupies the back of the building and is one provider in the district’s universal pre-K program.

According to recent information shared by the district on proposals for all three buildings up for sale or lease, the Brosnan property has brought in offers ranging in price from $2.5 to $8 million, which include “ultra luxury clustered townhouse rentals,” with 50 to 100 units being proposed. One unnamed developer is looking to keep the structure intact and mentioned some “creative uses” for the building, including using a portion of it to house Northport Village Hall and the Village police station.