Renovation spurs 18,000 s/f in Rockville Centre leases.

A $2 million renovation at a prominent Rockville Centre office building has spurred new lease signings and lease renewals totaling more than 18,000 s/f..

Two new leases totaling more that 11,000 s/f have been signed at 100 Merrick Rd. in the heart of the South Shore Nassau County village. The transactions were arranged by Sutton & Edwards Inc. / TCN Worldwide, Long Island's leading commercial real estate services firm.

The firm also arranged lease renewals totaling more than 7,000 s/f in the 139,000 s/f office building, whose lobby and corridors are being updated with a design by The Spector Group architectural firm. "The owners have put a lot of capital into the building with the emphasis on tenant retention," said Sutton & Edwards President Alan Rosenberg.

The building, also known as the East & West Building, is owned by 100 Merrick LLC, a venture affiliated with Prudential Insurance Co. It was constructed in 1968 and acquired by its current owner in 2003.

The new leases include a deal for 7,789 s/f by Centris Group, which produces Internet-based training materials for special education teachers. Centris previously leased 4,200 square feet in the building. This is the third expansion in l0 years for the company. "When expanding our business operations, we explored a myriad of different options," said Bill Lynch, Centris vice president of operations.

"When it came down to it, location was a deciding factor, along with the ability to customize our space to exactly what we wanted."

MBI Associates Inc., a debt collection firm, signed a long term lease for 3,400 square feet, an expansion from the 2,200 s/f that MBI formerly occupied in a nearby building.

Rosenberg and Sutton & Edwards associate Seth Leiderman represented both the tenant and the landlord in the Centris deal. Leiderman arranged the MBI deal on behalf of both the tenant and landlord.

Additionally, Leiderman arranged these lease renewals at the property:

Quality Metal Stamping LLC renewed its corporate headquarters lease for 1,360 s/f. The company makes pre-fabricated metal stamping parts, machine tools and dies at a plant in Tennessee;

Aljan Corp, which produces stationery featuring licensed characters, signed a renewal 930 s/f;

Futter Lumber, one of the largest lumber wholesalers on the East Coast, signed a renewal for 2840 s/f for its headquarters;

Trueforge Global Machinery Corp., which specializes in buying and selling machinery and equipment for the various metal forming businesses, signed a renewal for 1,625 s/f for its executive offices;

Health Masters Inc., which provides services to insurance companies, renewed its lease for 550 s/f.