(MELVILLE, NEW YORKMarch 19, 2002) Reckson Associates has announced a major lease transaction with Metro One, the telecommunications company, totaling 40,000 square feet, at 100 Engineers Drive in Hauppauge. The Company will convert the property from industrial usage to a combination of office and research and development space as part of a long-term lease commitment to meet Metro One's expansion needs. Metro One is an existing Reckson tenant. This transaction underscores the Company's ability to retain tenants in addition to its value creation skills in solving workplace solutions for discriminating companies.
Ranked 6th overall by Forbes 2001 list of 200 Best Small Companies nationwide, Metro One has also been recognized by Fortune and Business Week as one of their top 100 fastest growing companies for 2001. A long-time Reckson tenant, the company's rapid growth urgently required additional space for its call center. Metro draws extensively from the Central-Suffolk corridor for its staff, but required a larger block of space than was readily available in the area. Reckson offered Metro the perfect solution in 100 Engineers Drive, located near its present offices.
The Company is retrofitting an underutilized industrial property with low ceilings and a low parking ratio into a new R & D office building for Metro One. This transformation will include a new skin, framing, and interior, as well as new landscaping and parking. Almost half of the existing building (warehousing) will be demolished to provide ample parking (5 to 1 ratio) for Metro One employees. When finished, the property will provide Metro with the next generation of R & D at an ideal location in the heart of the Hauppauge Industrial Park. Eric Launer of Sutton & Edwards represented the tenant in this transaction.
We are pleased to provide the creative thinking and properties required by Metro One to meet its present and future space needs on Long Island, said Mitchell Rechler, Co-President, Reckson Associates. This transaction strengthens an existing relationship by creating an anchor tenancy in a new building exactly suited to their individual needs.
Reckson Associates Realty Corp. is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the acquisition, leasing, financing, management and development of office and industrial properties.
Reckson's core growth strategy is focused on the markets surrounding and including New York City. The Company is one of the largest publicly traded owners, managers and developers of Class A office and industrial properties in the New York Tri-State area, with 181 properties comprised of approximately 20.6 million square feet either owned or controlled. For additional information on Reckson Associates Realty Corp., please visit the Company's web site at www.reckson.com
Certain matters discussed herein are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of results and no assurance can be given that the expected results will be delivered. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected. Among those risks, trends and uncertainties are the general economic climate, including the conditions affecting industries in which our principal tenants compete; changes in the supply of and demand for office and industrial properties in the New York Tri-State area; changes in interest rate levels; downturns in rental rate levels in our markets and our ability to lease or release space in a timely manner at current or anticipated rental rate levels; the availability of financing to us or our tenants; changes in operating costs, including utility costs; repayment of debt owed to the Company by third parties (including FrontLine Capital Group); risks associated with joint ventures; and other risks associated with the development and acquisition of properties, including risks that development may not be completed on schedule, that the tenants will not take occupancy or pay rent, or that development or operating costs may be greater than anticipated. For further information on factors that could impact Reckson, reference is made to Reckson's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Reckson is subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and undertakes no responsibility to update or supplement information contained in this press release that subsequently becomes untrue.
Contact:
Mitchell Rechler
Co-President, Reckson Associates
(631) 694-6900
