Publishers Clearing House seeks IDA tax breaks to move from Port Washington to Jericho, according to records

Publishers Clearing House plans to leave its longtime home in Port Washington for Jericho and is seeking help from Nassau County, documents obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law show.

Nassau's industrial development agency will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. Monday at the Oyster Bay Community Center, 59 Church St. in Oyster Bay.

The sweepstakes company wants to rent about half of 300 Jericho Quadrangle in Jericho. The office building, owned by We're Group, is 305,000 square feet.

The $37 million project will keep 444 jobs in Nassau and create 66 by 2020, according to PCH's application for IDA tax breaks. Its employees earn, on average, $87,000 per year.

"Our current headquarters was designed almost 50 years ago," company spokesman Christopher L. Irving said Friday. "The Jericho location offers us a fresh, new, single space where we can create a more open and collaborative environment."

The company said in the application that it considered moving to Suffolk County, Manhattan, Maine or Minnesota -- other places where it has facilities.

Joseph J. Kearney, the IDA's executive director, said, "It would be a body blow to Nassau County if this company were to leave."

He said the IDA had backed new headquarters for Dealertrack Technologies and the Hain Celestial Group.