Business
LI
September,
2002
Real
Estate 2002 Top Pick
Beechwood Organization
If for many years Long Island exemplified the national
vision of American Suburbia, it is the developers, starting with
William Levitt, who shaped that now-familiar Long Island Suburbia.
Since 1980, one of the most successful of these has been the beechwood
Organization in Jericho, owned by partners Michael Dubb and Lelsie
Lerner. And, in addition to building, each contributes a great deal
of time to improving the quality of life in the communities in which
they build, with Dubbfocusing his efforts in Nassau and Suffolk,
and Lerner in New York City and the five boroughs.
Since 1980, Beechwood has built 45 communities-3,200 homes-throughout
Long Island and in New York City. Their work has won Beechwood scores
of industry awards, including, "Best Model Home, Best New Design,
and Best Overall New Community."
The Beechwood Organization is building in the Bronx, Queens, Nassau
and Suffolk. Today, they have communities built or underway in Manorville
(for adults 55 and over), Shorehaven, Miller Place, Smithtown North,
Dix Hills, Alley Pond, Medford, Coram, Yaphank and, one of particular
note, in Rockaway.
Beechwood last year won the right to build Arverne-by-the-Sea on
117 acres in the rockaway section of Queens. This is a $350 million
development that includes 2,300 middle-income residential units,
mostly two-family homes with estimated prices between $275,00 and
$375,000, single family homes for $500,000 and up, and apartments
in the $900-a-month range. The community will include parks, retail
space, a community center and school, and will take advantage of
its site on the ocean.
In addition, Beechwood built the largest affordable housing community
on Long Island, South Wind Village in Bay Shore. "We did that
because we believe is necessary," Dubb says. "We did it
for less than we would ordinarily charge."
If the past of the Beechwood Organization has been successful, Dubb
sees the future as being equally bright. He says, " Over the
next year, the demand for new housing is going to be strong because
the demand exceeds the supply. In this economy, people want to invest
in something they can and touch."
Although they have certainly changed the physical face of the entire
region, the principals in the Beechwood Organization have also enhanced
the spirit of the region through their community activities. Just
in Nassau and Suffolk, Dubb's community activities are legion. A
thoroughbred horse owner, he recently donated a new 7,000 square
foot building at Belmont racetrack for use as a day care center
operated by the Belmont Child Car Association for children of people
who work on the backstretch of the track. "There are,"
he says, " so many people who have so little. If I can help
them, I want to help them."
As president of the Long Island Homebuilders Care, Inc., a nonprofit
that does charitable work for people in need, Dubb led the drive
to raise $2 million for World Trade Center victims who had housing-related
problems.
In addition, Dubb was honored by the Long Island branch of the American
Cancer Society; is a member of the board of directors of the Suffolk
YM-YWHA in Commack, the second largest Y in the United States, and
is a member of the board of North Shore University Hospital. He
also serves on the New York State Real Estate Board, appointed by
the State Senate Minority Leader.
Along with his public community service, Dubb has renovated homes
for people whose changing circumstances necessitate a change in
their physical environment that they could not afford to do themselves.
When asked if his public community involvement has helped his business,
Dubb says no. "I don't see any direct connection. It's worth
doing what I do because I'm fortunate enough to be involved in an
industry in which I can change people's lives with a hammer and
some nails."
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