North Hills Mayor Marvin Natiss and New York Lt. Gov. Cathy Hochul celebrated the Dealertrack Technologies’ ribbon-cutting last Wednesday, finishing a two-year construction project to bring the company’s corporate headquarters to North Hills from Lake Success.
The four-floor, 230,000-square-foot facility at 3400 New Hyde Park Road has been a plan in the making for 14 years, and Nattis said he does not yet know how the new headquarters will affect the mostly residential North Hills community until it is fully occupied in early July.
“This was something that was approved many years ago, and it goes back way before my time. They were waiting for the right tenant,” Natiss said. “What I’ve promised my residents is once it’s in operation, Nassau County will do traffic study of the area and look at its impact to South Service Road. That road is already heavily trafficked during rush hour as it is.”
The facility will house 600 employees to start and has the room to continue growing during the 17-year lease. The headquarters features indoor basketball and volleyball courts, a cafe, cardio room and yoga studio, indoor and outdoor dining areas, game rooms and a walking trail.
“When Dealertrack originally announced the new building plan three years ago, it was a vision driven by our team members to have a work environment that inspired innovation and collaboration, and overall health and wellness in the workplace,” Dean Tilsley, Dealertrack senior vice president of finance and operations, said. “As we have grown over the years, we have done so with an unwavering commitment to the Long Island metro area. We are proud to offer our team members a state-of-the-art facility where they can continue to develop solutions that are changing the way the world buys and sells vehicles, and also contributes to local economic prosperity.”
In order to encourage Dealertrack’s $100 million expansion in New York, Empire State Development offered the company up to $10.5 million in performance-based tax credits through the Excelsior Jobs Program and a grant of up to $1.5 million. The company will create 357 software jobs and retain more than 500 jobs over five years.
“My economic development team was proud to work directly with Dealertrack for the creation of over 300 new private sector jobs in Nassau County, as well as the retention of more than 500 current positions,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said in a news release. “From creating new jobs to generating economic activity in our local economy, helping Dealertrack expand their operations in Nassau County is a win-win for our economy.”
The building has been a source of grief in North Hills previously. The Board of Trustees objected to plans for an outdoor balcony for guests before ultimately approving them. And residents have expressed concerns about future traffic problems, prompting the board to plan a traffic study now that the building has opened.
In the final planning stages, North Hills approved only five of the six proposed outdoor signs, saying the two proposed lighted signs would make the village “as bright as Times Square.” Village officials said any lit signs may only be on during business hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Founded in 2001, Dealertrack develops and provides software and services for the automotive retail industry, including dealers, lenders, original equipment manufacturers, third-party retailers, agents and aftermarket providers. Dealertrack officials were not available for comment.
Dealertrack was founded in Garden City 2001 as a local credit application network for car dealerships and has since expanded to serve car dealers and lenders across the U.S. In 2005, it moved its headquarters to Lake Success, where about 400 of its 3,900 nationwide employees worked.
“Dealertrack’s $100 million commitment to retain 500 jobs and add more than 350 new positions here on Long Island is further proof that our regional approach to job growth is working,” Hochul said in a news release. “This is a homegrown success story that will continue to unfold and create new opportunities long into the future.”
