Supplyhouse.com, an online distributor of plumbing and HVAC supplies, will get nearly $500,000 in tax breaks from Suffolk County to relocate its headquarters from Farmingdale to 130 Spagnoli Rd. in Melville. (Credit: Johnny Milano) Supplyhouse.com, an online distributor of plumbing and HVAC supplies, has been approved by Suffolk County for nearly $500,000 in tax breaks to relocate its headquarters from Farmingdale to Melville.
The company, founded 13 years ago out of the bedroom of president and CEO Josh Meyerowitz, plans to move 74 of its 107 Long Island employees to a facility at 130 Spagnoli Rd. and spend $820,000 to renovate and equip the property.
Supplyhouse.com, which currently operates out of a 92,850-square-foot office and warehouse space, plans to relocate its warehousing operation — 33 jobs — to a 150,000-square-foot facility in Cranbury, New Jersey, but keep and expand its corporate offices here.
The company will sign a 7-year lease for the Melville property, and has the option to purchase it for $7.1 million in year two. The company also has a warehouse in Columbus, Ohio. This is the second time in less than a year the county’s Industrial Development Agency has granted benefits for a project at the Spagnoli site. Last July, the IDA granted Hauppauge-based West Rac Contracting Corp., the property’s owner, tax benefits for a planned $2 million renovation and expansion of the 43,560- square-foot distribution facility in hopes of retaining its tenant Carr Business Systems.Carr’s lease with West Rac ends in April
Carr, a Xerox-owned distributor of copy machines, instead plans to move its more than 100- employee operation to a space at 500 Commack Rd. in Commack, the former Forest Labs property now owned by Bethpage developer Steel Equities. In 2014, Steel received IDA benefits to acquire and convert the massive site into multi-tenant office space.
Supplyhouse.com has committed to hire 20 employees over the next two years, and estimates that growth will allow it to add 50 over five years.
“We’re growing so fast that we’ve realized over time we need to leave ourselves some room for growth,” Meyerowitz said during a Thursday IDA meeting. His family has been in the plumbing business for roughly 90 years. “We’re moving our warehouse facility to New Jersey, but 80 percent of the payroll is staying in Suffolk County.”
The company plans to renovate the building to house corporate offices and meeting space as well as a training center for new employees. Job functions include accounting, purchasing, customer service, IT and marketing. Records show employees, on average, make $54,298 a year. Supplyhouse.com’s IDA benefits include a $56,494 sales tax exemption on the purchase of furniture, computers, and other office equipment; a $74,970 mortgage recording tax exemption if they opt to purchase the property; and a 10-year property tax abatement on the facility, with a 50 percent reduction on existing taxes for the first year, according to IDA documents.