Luminati Vacates Grumman Building

Luminati Aerospace, part of the ownership group that intends to purchase 1643 acres of Enterprise Park in Riverhead, is in the news again.

About the last thing the would-be purchasers of Riverhead Town’s EPCAL property, Calverton Aviation and Technology, needs is negative publicity, but its minority partner Luminati can’t seem to help itself.

Luminati Aerospace is owned by Daniel Preston and is said to own 25 percent of CAT. The mall developer Triple Five Group, which is best known for developing large shopping malls like the Mall of America, owns the remainder.

“All of his business deals have ended badly,” said Riverhead Town Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith of Preston. She acknowledged Luminati is still tethered to the Enterprise deal with CAT. “He hasn’t done business with anyone who hasn’t sued him,” she said.

Last week, Luminati reportedly agreed to leave the former Grumman Plant 6 in response to an eviction action filed by Laoudis of Calverton, the owner of the plant.

The building is not part of the larger deal, which will transfer the 1643 acres to CAT for $40 million should it go through.

Jens-Smith acknowledged she views the pending deal through a cynic’s lens. “This all started as a bromance between Daniel and Sean Walter,” Jen-Smith said, referring to the former Riverhead Town Supervisor, “before I took office.”

She characterized the sale as a “rush” orchestrated by Walter, noting in her opinion it was “a good deal” for CAT, but not necessarily the town.

Could Preston’s penchant for getting sued eventually put the bigger deal in jeopardy. “We’ve contacted our attorneys about it,” the supervisor said.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com