Canadian auto insurer leasing 50,000 s/f space

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 3, 2008

The U.S. unit of one of Canada's largest automobile insurers has leased 50,000 s/f of office space for a regional office in Bethpage, N.Y., in a deal negotiated by Wachtler Knopf Equities (WKE) LLC.

Elk Grove Village, Illinois-based Kingsway America, an assigned-risk insurer that is a unit of Mississauga, Ontario-based Kingsway Financial Services, Inc., leased space at Sterling Corporate Center, located at 999 Stewart Ave. Bethpage. The 250,000 s/f, two-building complex, formerly the Robert Plan Building, has been owned by Great Neck-based Sterling Equities since 2006 and professionally managed and leased by WKE.

"We are pleased to kick off our representation of this property with such a substantial lease with a major tenant," said Philip Wachtler, principal of WKE. "This lease is indicative of our optimism for this property, which we plan on updating through significant capital improvements."

Robert Rosenbluth of Real Estate Strategies Ltd., Jericho, N.Y., represented Kingsway in lease negotiations. Wachtler represented the building's owner.

Kingsway's primary business is the insuring of automobile risks for drivers who do not meet the criteria for coverage by standard automobile insurers. Kingsway also operates in standard automobile, commercial automobile, trucking, property, motorcycle and other niche markets.

Last year, Kingsway acquired the assigned risk business of the Robert Plan Corp. A publicly traded company, Kingsway operates through 11 wholly owned insurance subsidiaries in Canada and two insurance agencies in Canada and the United States. Kingsway employs approximately 2,900 people in Canada and the United States.

Established in 2005, Farmingdale, NY-based Wachtler Knopf Equities is a property management and leasing company overseeing a portfolio of 12 Long Island office buildings totaling more than 800,000 s/f.

Founded in 1972 by Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz as a vehicle to develop and invest in real estate, family-run Sterling Equities and its affiliates have purchased or developed more than 17 million square feet of commercial property, 45,000 residential units, 8.5 million square feet of retail property and three major sports complexes. Sterling has evolved into a diverse family of companies focused on the creation of wealth and preservation of capital.