Gyrodyne Company of America, Inc. is a

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping cente ...

that owns, leases, and manages commercial properties along the Eastern Coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Gyrodyne's headquarters are located in

Saint James, New York St. James is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 13,487 at the 2020 census. St. James is part of the Town of Smithtown and is located on the North Shore of Long ...

, in Eastern

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. It was founded in 1946, initially as a helicopter design and manufacturing company.

History

Gyrodyne Company of America was founded in 1946 by Peter J. Papadakos, using the assets he bought from the bankrupt

Bendix Helicopters Bendix Helicopters, Inc. was the last company founded by prolific inventor Vincent Bendix, in 1943 in Connecticut. It ceased operations in 1949. History It built a 10,000 square foot factory for helicopter production on East Main Street in Stra ...

Company. The company continued Bendix's development of a one-man synchronized co-axial rotor helicopter in

Massapequa, New York Massapequa (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Massapequa area. The p ...

, before moving to

St. James, New York St. James is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 13,487 at the 2020 census. St. James is part of the Town of Smithtown and is located on the North Shore of Long ...

, in 1951. For the next 24 years the company was engaged in the design, testing, development, and production of coaxial helicopters, primarily the

Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH The Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH (''Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter'') is a small drone helicopter built by Gyrodyne Company of America for use as a long-range anti-submarine weapon on ships that would otherwise be too small to operate a full-sized hel ...

drone for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

. In 1975, Gyrodyne began converting its helicopter manufacturing facilities into rental space suitable for light industry. Since then the company has concentrated its efforts on the management and development of real estate. On November 2, 2005,

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

seized 245.5 acres under eminent domain from Gyrodyne, initially paying them $26,315,000 for the property. In 2006, Gyrodyne opened a case for just compensation. Finally, in 2010, the Court of Claims ruled in Gyrodyne's favor when it awarded the company $125,000,000 thereby requiring the state to pay an additional $98,685,000 plus interest of nine percent from the date of taking, to the date of payment. In 2006, Gyrodyne became a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust. Around this time, Gyrodyne began focusing on purchasing medical properties. Since then, the company has bought three such facilities: two in New York, and one in Northern Virginia.

Aircraft

Gyrodyne RON Rotorcycle The Gyrodyne RON Rotorcycle (originally designated HOG) was a tiny, single-seat helicopter designed under contract for the United States Navy. in the mid-1950s. It later was redesigned for a U.S. Marine Corps requirement for a small personal he ...

Gyrodyne GCA-2 The Gyrodyne GCA-2 was a general-purpose helicopter built by the Gyrodyne Company of America Gyrodyne Company of America, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns, leases, and manages commercial properties along the Eastern Coast of the ...

* Gyrodyne GCA-3 Convertiplane * Gyrodyne GCA-35 Gyroliner * Gyrodyne GCA-24 * Gyrodyne GCA-32 Military Convertiplane

Properties

Today Gyrodyne owns, manages, and leases four properties: two in eastern Long Island, one in southern New York, and one in Northern Virginia. In addition, the company has a limited partnership investment in a citrus grove called the Callery-Judge Grove, located in Palm Beach County, Florida. Flowerfield is the location of Gyrodyne's headquarters and is the former site of the helicopter manufacturing facility. It is located in Saint James, New York, 50 miles east of New York City. Flowerfield is a 68-acre property with 127,062 square feet of rentable space zoned primarily for light industry. Initially more than 300 acres, most of the Flowerfield property was taken by Stony Brook University under eminent domain in 2005. In June 2007 the company acquired ten buildings in the Port Jefferson Professional Park in Port Jefferson Station, New York. These buildings are situated on 5.16 acres with 39,329 square feet of rentable space. Cortlandt Medical Center in Cortlandt Manor, New York, was acquired by the company on June 2, 2008. It contains five office buildings which are situated on 5.01 acres with 31,198 rentable square feet. The company also acquired land around this site, including a 16,000 square foot house located on 1.43 acres, and 2,500 rentable square feet on 1.6 acres. Fairfax Medical Center was acquired on March 31, 2009. It consists of two office buildings situated on 3.5 acres with 57,621 square feet of rentable space.

References

External links

Gyrodyne Company of America website GyrodyneHelicopters.com: The Gyrodyne Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyrodyne Company Of America Real estate investment trusts of the United States Defunct helicopter manufacturers of the United States 01 Companies based in Suffolk County, New York American companies established in 1946 Manufacturing companies established in 1946 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1975 1946 establishments in New York (state) American landowners American companies disestablished in 1975 Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York (state)