Long Island posts some real estate gains.

Although the Long Island region was acutely impacted by the northeast real estate recession of 1989-93, all indications now show an uptick, with sharp increases in demand for office and industrial space within the last four to six months, as well as permits for new construction now working through governmental channels.

Behind this upsurge is the Island's labor pool of technical, engineering and management personnel. This sophisticated work force has traditionally fueled Long Island's growth in the high-tech field and has accounted for the presence of many long-time and more recently established local corporate headquarters, including those of Grumman, Avis, Olsten, Weight Watchers, CMP Publications, Publishers Clearing House and Computer Associates.

Adding to the favorable growth picture is the new Long Island Partnership. Spearheaded by the Long Island Lighting Company, the Partnership has been assisting local businesses and drawing the interest of companies in other regions with programs such as energy conservation programs, low interest expansion mortgages, job incentive programs and tax abatements.

What these magnets have produced for the bi-county Long Island region is a substantial decrease of 2,783,000 square feet in available space within Nassau and Suffolk counties - a plummet in unused space of fully 15.15 percent.

David Hunt, president of D'Angelo, Forrest, Hunt & Company, said that 1993 year-end industrial rents in Nassau County averaged $6.54 per square-foot and in Suffolk County, $5.62 per square-foot (both figures inclusive of real estate taxes). Industrial sales averaged $50.97 per square-foot in Nassau and $49.20 per square-foot in Suffolk. Hunt added that office rental space now averages an all-inclusive $21.70 per square foot for Nassau and $17.85 per square foot for Suffolk. Office sales in Nassau are $135.22 per square foot and in Suffolk, $121.37 per square foot.

The quality of Long Island's labor force and newly attractive rents proved to be the lure for P.C. Richards, a leading appliance retailer in the New York metropolitan area. A long-time Long Island presence, the retailer weighed its many alternatives prior to its decision to lease 600,000 square feet of new warehouse distribution and office space in Farmingdale.

The experience of the Chasanoff Organization also tells of Long Island's renewed attractiveness. Developer of a 600.000 square-foot office complex in the prime Jericho/Westbury area which has traditionally housed Fortune 500 companies, Chasanoff has within the past year leased 65,000 square feet of space to companies such as Advest, CMP Publications, Chase Manhattan Bank, NA and American Claims.

Were Long Island a state, its 2.8 million population would rank it the tenth- most populous in the nation. Additionally, according to the Long Island Lighting Company, Long Island's $40 billion in gross regional product ranks it as the tenth most populated business district nationwide.

The Long Island outlook continues to be encouraging; jobs lost in the dwindling defense sector have been gained in the burgeoning bio-tech and pharmaceutical sectors. High-tech research in conjunction with area universities has proven the be the foundation for new business starts. The Island's vibrant performing and visual arts community, including the world class Tilles Center for the performing Arts, museums such as the Heckscher, the Parrish, the Nassau County Museum of Art and the Museums at Stony Brook, as well as performances of classical and popular music at Planting Fields Arboretum, Westbury Music Fair and Staller Center, create an enviable quality of life that, along with magnificent beaches, parks and shorelines, attracts managerial and technical talent from across the country.

Long Island continues to be a region on the move. We predict that in 1994 and beyond we will witness a renewal of the vitality that this bi-county area has enjoyed for many years.