LaunchPad, a business that allows start-up companies to rent space in an office building, is on track to open in Great Neck Plaza later this fall following Village of Great Neck Plaza trustees’ unanimous approval of the business’s conditional-use permit on Wednesday.
“I am so glad that this is coming forward,” Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender said. “I think you’ll be a driver of new activity in the village.”
The company, lead by co-founder Andrew Hazen, will occupy parts of the first floor of 3 Grace Ave., as well as the entire basement of the building.
“We’re looking to make Great Neck our next home,” Hazen said.
Celender said that Launchpad’s arrival to Great Neck was a cooperative effort between the village and the Town of North Hempstead’s Business and Tourism Development Corporation.
“This is what happens when local governments work together,” she said.
Celender thanked Kim Kaiman, executive director of the business and tourism development corporation, for her effort in bringing the company to the area.
“She was certainly the champion of this idea,” Celender said of Kaiman.
Kaiman, who was at Wednesday’s meeting, said she got the idea to bring the company to Great Neck following a visit to their Mineola office in November of 2013.
“Once I saw that facility I said this is it,” said Kaiman, wife of former Town of North Hempstead Supervisor and Nassau Interim Finance Authority Chairman Jon Kaiman. “We have to bring it to another area of the town.”
Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in statement on Friday ““We are just thrilled to see LaunchPad open a second site within the Town of North Hempstead.”
“I am confident that this high-tech company will flourish in the Village of Great Neck Plaza, producing some amazing and innovative ideas, products and businesses,” Bosworth added.
The company, which also has locations in Mineola and Huntington, offers access to a desk, wi-fi, office space and conference rooms to aspiring entrepreneurs for a monthly fee, which starts at about $149.
Private offices in the building will start at about $700 a month, Hazen said.
Hazen said the 7,800 square foot office will include the same amenities as the Mineola and Huntington locations, which include a kitchen, Foosball and pool tables and a lounge area.
The Great Neck office, Hazen said, will be run by Peter Goldsmith, president of the Long Island Software & Technology Network (LISTnet).
“As a team, we’re going to make you proud,” Goldsmith told the board of trustees.
Hazen said there is already interest in renting space at the Great Neck office, and that he was meeting with an entrepreneur who could be the first licensee in the new office.
“This is such good news,” Celender said.
