AIRECO merges with Industry One

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Industry One Realty has entered into an agreement with AIRECO Real Estate that merges the two Long Island commercial real estate brokerage firms.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Robert Desmond, president of AIRECO, will join Industry One’s Melville office as executive vice president and will assist in managing and mentoring the merged firm’s 15 brokers and sales agents, according to a company statement.

Mario Asaro, who will continue to serve as president of Industry One, said  the merger allows him to focus on his “growth plan to open additional offices in new markets in the near future as well as start a property management division.”

AIRECO was formed in 1987 under the name All Industrial Real Estate Corp. by four partners, including Desmond, who all came from Schacker Real Estate. Desmond eventually bought out the other three and then rebranded the firm as AIRECO Real Estate. The company has always been located in the Hauppauge Industrial Park.

Industry One was founded in 1985 by Bernie Steinberg and Henry Proto. In 2009, Asaro, an SIOR broker, took the helm and expanded the firm’s roster of sales agents, moving it from its original Farmingdale location to its current office in Melville.

“I have always felt Bob Desmond and AIRECO would fit very well with our company and have approached Bob about it a couple of times over the years and he would say, ‘I am not quite ready yet,’” Asaro said, “so I was very excited when he called me and said he was ready.”

Desmond said he’s had interest from several brokerage firms about merging with his company over the last few years.

“Timing was right and Industry One seemed like the best fit,” Desmond said. “I felt comfortable with Mario and liked what he has accomplished and his plans and vision for the future.”