Reckson breaks ground on new Melville office building.

The heart of corporate Melville, NY will soon have a new Class A office property, Reckson Executive Park - Reckson Associates Realty Corp.'s two-building, 554,162 square-foot complex, to be located directly on the Long Island Expressway's South Service Road, east of Round Swamp Road.

At a ground-breaking held May 12th, the company unveiled details for the complex, scheduled to open in the fall of 2000. The ground-breaking, well-attended by members of the commercial real estate brokerage and business community, was officiated by Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone.

According to Donald Rechler, chairman of Reckson Associates, "The Reckson Executive Park site is without question the finest location in Melville, if not all of Long Island. This complex offers exceptional visibility for corporate exposure - directly on the Long Island Expressway - and will serve as the perfect gateway to Suffolk County."

The two buildings, each 277,081 square feet, will have four floors with two two-story atriums, a reflective glass and granite facade, and ceiling heights up to nine feet. Plans call for 2,172 parking spaces with 51 underground spaces per building.

Reckson Executive Park will offer a first-class office environment in a 33.5 acre campus-style office park, surrounded by 100 acres of passive parkland. Tenants will enjoy such amenities as an on-site Internet server connection, technologically advanced fiber optics, a high-tech conference/training facility, a restaurant/cafe, and a state-of-the-art fitness center.

Reckson Executive Park's prime location sits on the border of Nassau and Suffolk counties and is located within the Melville business community, of which Reckson has a 55 percent share of the Melville-Route 110 Submarket. The new park's location will provide immediate east- and west-bound access to the Expressway at Exit 48, and is convenient to hotels, restaurants and retail.

"The Reckson team has been working diligently to give shape to Reckson Executive Park, and now that ground is broken, we can make that vision a reality," said Mitchell Rechler, Reckson executive vice president. "We're looking forward to starting off the millennium strong on Long Island, with a new Class A complex in a prime location. We are confident we will be able to attract a high quality tenant base with the limited availability in Melville, and across Long Island, of large blocks of space of 30,000 square feet or more. The market's favorable supply and demand characteristics, in conjunction with our recent success at Melville Square Corporate Center in bringing that project to 85 percent occupancy within five months of building completion, support our endeavor to go forward at Reckson Executive Park."

Reckson Associates Realty Corp. is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in acquisition, leasing, financing, management and development of office and industrial properties.

Reckson's core growth strategy is focused on the suburban markets surrounding and including New York City. Since the completion of its initial public offering in May 1995, Reckson has acquired or contracted to acquire approximately $1.3 billion of properties comprising approximately 17.5 million square feet of space, excluding Reckson's pending acquisition of Tower Realty Trust, Inc.

Reckson is one of the largest publicly-traded owners and managers of Class A suburban office and industrial properties in the New York City "tri-state" area, with 207 properties comprised of approximately 22 million square feet either owned and controlled, directly or indirectly, or under contract, excluding Reckson's pending acquisition of Tower Realty Trust, Inc.