Dowling College filed for bankruptcy in 2016.

FARMINGVILLE, NY—Triple Five Aviation Industries, LLC of East Rutherford, NJ has secured incentives from the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency to redevelop the former Dowling College campus in Shirley.

Triple Five acquired the 105-acre campus earlier this year in a bankruptcy auction for $14 million. Triple Five is planning to redevelop the Shirley, Long Island campus into an aviation education and research center.

Dowling, whose main campus was in Oakdale, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016. Dowling's Shirley campus included its aviation program and athletic complexes. Dowling also maintained small campuses in Melville and Manhattan.

The Shirley campus, adjacent to the town-owned Brookhaven Calabro Airport, also contains 70 dormitory rooms, an athletic complex and an aircraft hangar.

Triple Five's parent company, Triple Five Worldwide Group, is the developer of the two largest indoor shopping malls in North America, including the Mall of America in Minneapolis, and is developing the Great American Mall in the New Jersey Meadowlands and the 6.2-million-square-foot American Dream Miami.

On Long Island, Triple Five is partnering with Luminati Aerospace in their attempts to purchase most of Riverhead Town's remaining land at the Calverton Enterprise Park for $40 million, according to multiple press reports.

Triple Five said in its application to the Brookhaven IDA that among the businesses it is hoping to attract to the Shirley campus are corporate research and development firms, educational aviation institutions, material science training programs and recreational users. It said as many as 50 people could be employed at the campus within two years.

Stuart Bienstock, director of business development for Triple Five, said the company plans to spend $2 million in upgrades to the campus. “Our goal for the site is an industry-university research and development center for advanced transportation technology and propel the Long Island eco-system and the William Floyd Corridor to a leadership position in advanced technology, similar to Silicon Valley,” he says.

Frederick C. Braun III, chairman of the Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency, says of the project, “We are eager to again have the former Dowling campus contributing to the town's economy and Triple Five's ambitious plan to reinvigorate the campus also could benefit the town-owned airport.”

Instant Insights /

Brookhaven IDA Provides Perks for Dowling College Shirley Campus Redevelopment

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