In 2004, Panattoni Development Co. was a blip on the realty radar screen. Now, its emergence in Orange County as a key developer has won the company the county”™s admiration and it is now officially in Orange County Partnership”™s “winner”™s circle.”
With a portfolio of projects from across the country, the newcomer has set its sights on the west bank of the Hudson River, where it”™s developing projects at breakneck speed.
Panattoni bought the former Wakefern distribution center in the town of Wallkill, where it has been marketing and re-branding the 700,000-square-foot distribution center and filling it with tenants.
The firm”™s new Pine Lane Business Center in Waywayanda offers 100,000 square feet to 750,000 square feet of space for distribution, industrial use, research or office space. It also plans to build a 535,000-square-foot distribution center in Montgomery.
Those kinds of community investments quickly caught the eye of the county”™s developmental arm, which honored the company by bestowing its “2007 Most Valuable Partner Award” on Panattoni at the partnership”™s annual breakfast at Anthony”™s Pier 9 in New Windsor on June 5.
Calling Panattoni a “company that gets things done,” Maureen Halahan, president of the partnership, said: “We had 79 commercial brokers and site selectors on our recent brokers”™ tour, and we had no trouble bringing them in. Six different states, including real estate agents from the metropolitan area, joined our biannual event. We all embrace the positive balanced commercial growth coming to Orange County and Panattoni is leading the way.” (Panattoni hosted the luncheon for the 2007 brokers”™ tour at its Ballard Road site.)
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“We consider them (Panattoni) a multitask developer,” said Mike Torelli, director of business attraction for the partnership. “They thoroughly evaluated our market, went through the site selection process and then had meetings with towns and villages, bringing their investors, land-use attorneys and essential key players with them when they arrived. They came to the right place at the right time with their team in place.”
Accepting the award for the company, Dean Donatelli, formerly of K. Hovnanian, who joined Panattoni in 2005 as a senior developer, is no stranger to the marketplace. Donatelli said Panattoni”™s focus is to grow the Northeast market, “particularly Orange County. We are particularly interested in the I-87/I-84 corridor. Stewart (International) Airport, Drury Lane and all the improvements being made to the interstates have made Orange County a desirable location for business.”
Donatelli told the 250 guests at Anthony”™s the company is focusing on low-impact design, LEED certification and green building features in both its Montgomery and Waywayanda sites. “We look forward to working here over the next several years, and we have made a serious commitment to Orange County.”
Jim Smith, owner of Advance Testing and chairman of the partnership”™s board of directors, praised Panatttoni, currently averaging creation of more than 2 million square feet of commercial space a year, “as an investor who gives an immediate return on your investment.”
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