In 1976, Richard Nicotra opened up Everything Yogurt, a frozen yogurt chain started on Wall Street in Manhattan. He soon built that chain to 250 stores before venturing into the real estate realm, and his nose for a marketplace need has recently assisted him in converting an expanse of undeveloped scrub on Staten Island into a high-end corporate park which houses his own executive office. “I wanted to have a class-A corporate headquarters right here,” he says. “I didn’t want to move to New Jersey or Manhattan, and I’m proud to one of the first people to build class this type of complex locally.”
He soon grew that one venture into a real estate empire that now encompasses much of the Chelsea-Bloomfield area. “I built one building here for myself as a headquarters. Then I found out there were other companies on Staten Island that also wanted to have a sophisticated presence. Before we built these buildings in Corporate Park, a business was either on top of a strip mall, above a pizza shop or Chinese restaurant, or you turned a house into a commercial building,” he says.
Together with his wife, Lois, Nicotra has allowed the island to become a destination where people can stay in five-star hotels, dine, work, and get married.
The Newest Addition
The most recent addition to the Nicotra empire is Corporate Commons Two: a complex purchased over a year ago and comprised of two buildings, which together add almost 300,000-square-feet of first-class office space to Corporate Park (the only such park in the city).
Nicotra notes that the influx of new office space and the employees who fill it will boost the island’s revenue. “I also hope the new employees will buy cars from dealerships on Staten Island, furniture from stores here, and go to pizzerias here,” he says, smiling.
Corporate Commons One and Two sit amid a bucolic, park-like, 100-acre setting just 11 miles from Manhattan and in close proximity to Newark Liberty International Airport. It’s included in the NY State Empire Development Zone, which offers significant incentives, benefits, and wage tax credits to their tenants. Corporate Commons, with full floors of 37,000 square-feet to 58,000 square-feet in two modern, three-story buildings, is part of The Nicotra Group, LLC family of properties situated along South Avenue.
So far, four major tenants have signed leases with Nicotra to lease space in the buildings. “The St. Paul’s School of Nursing already leases 26,000-square-feet and employs about 250 nurses and faculty in Corporate Commons,” says Nicotra. “The New York Police Department took about 27,000-square-feet of space and is moving four divisions into the building on June 1. We also have College Bound Network leasing 10,000-square-feet and signed with Richmond University Medical Center, which will take 80,000-square-feet.” Most recently, the team announced an additional lease agreement with Bridge Financial Group (a subsidiary of MetLife) for nearly 30,000 square-feet.
“MetLife will move 250 people into that building as of June 1,” Nicotra says. “We are thrilled that our space was such a good fit when Bridge Financial was looking to expand. This type of elegant setting, set on a sprawling, tree-filled campus tells corporations that Staten Island is ready to do business. Lois and I are especially pleased that this expansion will bring new employment opportunities while also giving borough residents additional financial services options.”
“This site gives our firm the additional space to expand services and increase our presence on Staten Island,” says Dominick Iorio, managing director of Bridge Financial Group, which has been a part of MetLife for nearly 25 years. “We are particularly attuned to the needs of our community. Our advanced planning for small business owners as well as financial planning services for families that have a loved one with special needs are just two examples of assistance we can give clients who have a sharp focus on their financial goals, in addition to a comprehensive portfolio of investment and income products.”
The History
Founded in 1992 by Richard and Lois Nicotra, The Nicotra Group, LLC, is a real estate development company with properties in both Staten Island and Manhattan. The group’s Corporate Park of Staten Island is comprised of seven office buildings with a total of nearly one-million square-feet of office and hospitality space, including the Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton Inn and Suites, which offer a conference center, banquet facilities (accommodating over 1,000 guests), and a high-end restaurant, all situated on 415 acres of wildlife preserve.
“Fifteen years ago, this area was a wasteland where everyone dumped their tires and burnt cars,” Nicotra explains. “Now there are hundreds of businesses at Corporate Park, and thousands of people who work here every day. First we built 1000 South Avenue, then 1200 South Avenue, then 900 South Avenue, But I was always embarrassed that we didn’t have a great hotel on Staten Island. When I would have a business meeting, I would have it in New Jersey or Manhattan. Out of need, I decided finally to build the Hilton Garden Inn so we would have a first-class hotel with banquet and meeting facilities.”
A graduate of St. John’s University, Nicotra was the youngest person in St. John’s history to receive an Honorary Doctorate degree. Lois is chairwoman and chief executive officer of The Nicotra Group, and is involved in the strategic planning and design elements for all company projects. She also is vice president of The Bloomfield Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the maintenance and upkeep of The Corporate Park of Staten Island, as well as a trustee for The Lois & Richard Nicotra Foundation.
One of the most challenging business ventures that the Nicotras entered into was the 2001 development and opening of the Hilton Garden Inn - Staten Island. This business-class hotel has 150 rooms, an indoor heated pool and hot tub, a business center, spa, and an award-winning restaurant, Lorenzo’s Bar & Cabaret. Attached to the Hilton is Nicotra’s Ballroom, a 30,000-square-foot banquet facility that can accommodate more than 1,000 guests. “Whether it be office space, hotel, restaurant, or wedding atmosphere,” Nicotra adds. “I keep raising the bar because I think Staten Islanders appreciate and deserve better than what they have been given.”
Giving Back
The Nicotras will be directing 25% of the profits from Corporate Commons One & Two to the newly-formed Lois and Richard Nicotra Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting the children of the company’s employees in their pursuit of a college education, while also supporting a variety of not-for-profit institutions, principally on Staten Island. “We want this foundation to be our legacy, We don’t have children, so the money will be used to help our employees’ children go to college. That’s our first priority, because without our employees, we wouldn’t have a business. The second half of the money will be used to support non-for-profits on Staten Island,” Nicotra says. “Our intent is to roll in 25% of all of our hotel and office building profit to make this foundation very active for our employees and the greater community. We want to be able to reach out to people who normally wouldn’t have been able to get a college education.”
In addition, the Nicotras started the Bloomfield Conservancy, whose mission statement reads in part that it will “[protect the Corporate Park site] from potential damage, clean-up and maintain the Site, provide information to people of all ages that will promote the preservation and protection of the environment, wetlands, and endangered trees and promote knowledge of the local plant and animal life present at the Site.”
“This is a non-for-profit that keeps this area clean and beautiful. For example, we’ve adopted the medians along South Avenue,” says Nicotra. “We water the medians, and we plant flowers, trees, and roses. What really makes my heart sing is when someone says to me, ‘I love to drive down South Avenue because it’s such a pretty street.’ Not long ago, that statement would have been an impossibility, and it reflects not just this area’s resurgence, but the reinvigoration of the entire island.”
