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The Latest...
Charles in charge at hub
Wang-Reckson team wins go-ahead from Suozzi for $1.6B
face-lift of Coliseum, area's development
by Monte R. Young - Mar. 16, 2006 - Newsday.com
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi has named the team
of billionaire businessman Charles Wang and Reckson Associates to renovate
the aging Nassau Coliseum and develop the surrounding 77 acres of prime
county land.
Suozzi will formally announce the $1.6-billion deal with Wang, owner of
the Islanders, at a news conference today in Mineola, according to sources
close to Suozzi.
Last month, the county narrowed the candidates for the
development to two: Wang's and Reckson Associates' Lighthouse Group vs.
the New York Mets Development Corp. and Sterling Equities, with partner
Blumenfeld Development Group.
'We are thrilled'
"We got a call from county officials that our proposal had been
accepted and we are thrilled," said Reckson Associates chief Scott
Rechler, in a call from Australia, where he is on a business trip.
Rechler said the development of the hub area has been talked about for
decades, but "This is the most momentum I've seen with public support
for what the hub area can be. It's becoming a reality."
The decision comes after months of intense negotiations over the
development of the area in Uniondale that has come to be called the Nassau
Hub.
County officials said Nassau will get a renovated, state-of-the-art
Coliseum financed entirely by the developers.
The $1.6-billion project includes a 22-story apartment tower, hotels, a
stadium for a minor league baseball team, a sports technology center and a
convention center.
Deal makes dollars, sense
Residents have long complained about conditions at the 16,300-seat
Coliseum, one of the oldest arenas in the NHL, including shabby rest rooms
and a sometimes leaky roof.
Wang said he has lost millions of dollars because the facility has few
luxury suites.
County officials are projecting $162 million in new property tax revenue,
and sales tax revenue on merchandise including tickets and food.
The Lighthouse Group will pay the county $1.5 million a year in rent for
the Coliseum.
Suozzi's panel of three county employees, headed by Deputy County
Executive Helena Williams, informed the winner yesterday, but also asked
Fred and Jeff Wilpon, of the Mets and their Coliseum Redevelopment Corp.,
to keep their offer on the table for future consideration if a memorandum
of agreement and a lease cannot be reached with Wang.
Wilpon ready if needed
Jeff Wilpon said he got a call yesterday from a county official telling
him they had lost.
He maintained that his group had the better plan and that Wang's plan,
which recently added a minor league stadium, now looks a lot like the
Mets' plan.
"I'm happy that we were able to help the county get a higher price
for the hub area," said Wilpon. "We were going to bring baseball
to Nassau, but the one thing we didn't have was control of the Islanders.
I told Suozzi that, if the deal falls through, we will be there to help
out."
The deal still has a number of hurdles, including approval by the Nassau
County Legislature. The county will now move to formalize a memorandum of
agreement with Wang and then to reach a lease agreement. Suozzi will then
recommend approval by the 19-member Nassau County Legislature. Lawmakers
will review the proposal before sending it back to Suozzi for final
approval. Wang will then go before Hempstead Town officials for zoning
approval.
Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick), chairman of the
planning development and environment committee, which will take first
crack at reviewing the Coliseum plan, said, "Once we get a proposal
we will act swiftly but we will also act thoroughly. There's no 'done
deals' with the legislature."
Wang will spend $320 million for renovations and new parking facilities at
the Coliseum. His proposal also calls for extending the Islanders' lease
on the Coliseum through 2025 and for the construction of a sports
technology center, housing and a conference facility.
County sources said the deal turned on which bidder
could provide a professional team to play in the newly renovated Coliseum.
They said the Coliseum Redevelopment Group tried to reach out to Wang
through NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, to get the Islanders to extend
their Coliseum lease. But Wang said he had no interest in partnering with
anyone other than the Lighthouse Group.
Approval will take time
The approval process for the Nassau Hub project could take up to two
years, officials say. Going forward, it includes these key elements:
Nassau County will move to formalize a memorandum of agreement and reach a
lease agreement with the winning bidder, Lighthouse Group.
County Executive Thomas Suozzi then recommends approval by the 19-member
county legislature.
Lawmakers review the proposal and, if they vote to approve it, return it
to Suozzi for his final signature.
Lighthouse then goes before Hempstead Town for zoning approval.
When it's done
$1.6 BILLION Value of project
$162 MILLION New annual tax revenues
$1.5 MILLION Annual rent to county for arena
The
Lighthouse Group Video Proposal
Parkland proviso may be an obstacle
by Celeste Hadrick - Mar. 16, 2006 - Newsday.com
The venture selected to redevelop the Nassau Coliseum
faces several potential obstacles and questions.
For one, the proposed Atlantic League baseball park -- a last-minute
addition to the Wang-Reckson plan -- would go on county parkland not
included in the 77-acre Coliseum property that was offered to bidders.
County officials acknowledge that a new request for
proposals will be needed to determine whether other ballpark operators
could offer a better deal than Frank Boulton, the Long Island Ducks team
owner who joined in the Wang-Reckson proposal. For his part, Reckson chief
Scott Rechler said this week he doubts anyone else could put a stadium on
the Mitchel Park site -- because his company controls the surrounding
parking.
In addition, county lawmakers say the State Legislature may need to
approve any deal for a private ballpark, since Mitchel Park is dedicated
parkland. After the Mitchel Field air base was dismantled in the 1960s,
the federal government stipulated that the property always be used for
park purposes when it was transferred to Nassau.
Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) said leasing the land to a private
owner, even a ballpark operator, could legally be considered alienation of
the park property and require state approval. County officials disagree
with that view.
Denenberg also expressed concern that community teams using the park's
existing soccer and baseball fields could be displaced. County officials
respond that those teams will not be affected because the new stadium
would be located on a swath of open parkland next to Charles Lindbergh
Boulevard.
In another unique wrinkle, Wang-Rechler plan envisions physically lowering
both Charles Lindbergh Boulevard and Hempstead Turnpike to allow better
pedestrian access.
While the winning venture, known as the Lighthouse Group, will contribute
$25 million for mass transportation, that amount is "a drop in the
bucket" for a project that could cost hundreds of millions of
dollars, said Ed Ward, spokesman for Minority Leader Peter Schmitt.
Some yesterday recalled past county plans. During the development of
Mitchel Field in the early 1980s, county officials said Meadowbrook
Parkway would be widened to alleviate traffic congestion. The road
improvements have yet to materialize.
Plan afoot for Nassau baseball team
by Celeste Hadrick - Mar. 9, 2006 - Newsday.com
A second minor-league baseball team would come to Long
Island under a proposal to be presented today for redeveloping the area
around the Nassau Coliseum.
Scott Rechler, president of Reckson Associates Realty Corp. and a partner
in Charles Wang's Lighthouse Development Group, is expected to join with
the Long Island Ducks baseball team's owner, Frank Boulton, and the
Atlantic League's executive director, Joe Klein, to propose the
minor-league team.
That joint venture is in a two-way competition against
an alliance of Sterling Equities, owners of the Mets, and Blumenfeld
Development Group, for rights to develop the Uniondale property.
Renderings by the Wang-Reckson team for a "new state-of-the-art
minor-league ballpark in Mitchel Athletic Complex" is due to be
unveiled at the news conference in Reckson Plaza in Uniondale, according
to a statement from the group.
The group's spokesman, Howard Cannon of Rubenstein Associates, said the
Suffolk-based Ducks would benefit from having a second Atlantic League
team next door in Nassau. "It's almost like revenue-sharing," he
said.
Cannon declined to say exactly where the proposed ballfield would go. The
county's Mitchel Park athletic complex, which now includes a baseball
field, is situated between properties leased from Nassau by Reckson
Associates.
The complex is not part of the 77-acre Coliseum property that County
Executive Thomas Suozzi is seeking an outside group to develop.
Cannon said the new Atlantic League team would go to Nassau only if the
county chooses the Lighthouse development venture.
Either way, Nassau can't lose
by Mark Herrmann - Newsday.com - February 19, 2006
Here is a new case for sports fans, who always measure
everything by W's and L's, wins and losses. On Long Island these days, the
choice is between W and W, Charles Wang and Fred Wilpon.
What it amounts to is yet another new rivalry in New York sports, one
between the Islanders and the Mets. Wang owns the Islanders and wants to
rebuild Nassau Coliseum and develop the area around it. Wilpon is the
principal owner of the Mets and heads a group that wants to build a new
Nassau Coliseum and develop the area around it.
Wilpon's and Wang's bids emerged this past week as the
two finalists in the race for the property. It will be a tough call for
the Nassau County Legislature, which made the great stride recently of
finally deciding how to get itself back into existence after a paralyzing
political imbroglio.
Both men are wealthy Long Islanders, sports figures and representatives of
the American dream. Both built themselves up with hard work. Each heads a
franchise with a solid base on Long Island and has its own rivalry with a
big-time team in the city. Each has had a falling-out with a partner
(Sanjay Kumar for Wang, Nelson Doubleday for Wilpon).
Both are good men and nice guys, at least judging from the times this
observer has been in their company.
Each has a $1.6-billion plan on the table and each has pledged to put up
$300 million to renew the Coliseum, one way or another.
Batter up, or drop the puck.
This could be hot stuff. What's more, it's not the first tango between
these two teams. In the early 1980s, John O. Pickett, the Islanders' owner
and a shrewd negotiator, was working a deal with SportsChannel. While he
was at it, he was allowed to strike one for the Mets by Doubleday, his
friend and former Islanders minority owner. Conventional wisdom was that
Pickett did a lot better for himself than he did for the Mets.
So Wilpon pulling the ice out from under Wang might be payback. If nothing
else, the one-upmanship will be interesting.
For whom should you root? That's also a tough one. Match them up.
Background: Wilpon is from Brooklyn, where - as everybody knows by now -
he played high school ball with Sandy Koufax. He made his fortune in real
estate, as co-founder of Sterling Equities. He brought baseball back to
the borough with the Cyclones, a Mets minor-league affiliate.
Wang is from Shanghai, China, and moved with his family to New York when
he was 8. He founded Computer Associates, which became a world-renowned
technology firm. He recently sponsored a youth hockey team from China in
its trip to a tournament in Canada.
What his proposal would mean to the Islanders: Wang has a personal stake
in this, insisting that his teams (including the Arena Football League
Dragons) and their fans deserve a better place. A refurbished Coliseum
would preserve the impeccable sight lines. On the other hand, this isn't
about running the team but building the site, and Wilpon would put Wang in
a sparkling new arena.
What his proposal would mean to all Long Islanders: Wilpon would build a
minor-league baseball park on the site, maybe one like the lovely field
his organization built in Coney Island. Wang is wary about Wilpon's plan
because, he said, it would be "the biggest super-regional shopping
mall on Long Island." He didn't say this, but we will: With the Ducks
and their beautiful park only a half-hour away, does Long Island need
another minor-league baseball team?
Sports savvy: Wilpon knows his way, having brought his fans one world
championship and another pennant. Wang relies on input from others, which
isn't all bad because he doesn't have a family member who insisted Kaz
Matsui is great.
Loyalty: At times it has seemed that Wang was more loyal to general
manager Mike Milbury than to the team's fans - sticking with his
decision-maker even when the results just didn't justify it. Ultimately,
though, he accepted Milbury's decision to step aside.
Wilpon never lets personal feelings get in the way of personnel decisions
when the results aren't there. He always looks to make the team better.
Then again, he showed a lack of loyalty to former GM Jim Duquette -
ordering him to cut the budget, then demoting him because the Mets weren't
good.
Two words that came back to haunt him: Wilpon - "skill sets"
(awkward description of the criteria for his top baseball executive).
Wang - "Alexei Yashin."
The winner is ...: From this vantage point, by a narrow margin, it's Wang.
He bought the Islanders largely out of civic responsibility. He lost a lot
of money and took a lot of flak from fans. Now he deserves a shot at good
times, and achieving them his way.
But ...: The margin is narrow. As long as Nassau officials really do let
one of them win, as long as Long Islanders have a clean and roomy place
(in which they don't have to hip-check each other to reach the restroom)
and as long as the Islanders can afford to earn the revenue that other NHL
teams do, it's a win-win choice.
Sporting chances
Principals involved with Islanders and Mets make final
cut in race to rebuild Coliseum
by Monte R. Young - Newsday.com - February 17, 2006
In a rare matchup, the Islanders are facing the Mets.
Yesterday, Nassau County officials narrowed to two big-name suitors the
search for the partnership that will renovate the aging Nassau Veterans
Memorial Coliseum and develop the surrounding 77 acres of county land.
On one side is the team of billionaire businessman
Charles Wang, owner of the Islanders hockey team, and its bidding partner
Reckson Associates.
On the other side is the New York Mets Development Corp. and Sterling
Equities, teamed in a joint venture with Blumenfeld Development Group.
At stake in the rivalry is the right to develop one of the last public
pieces of open land in Nassau. "Now we will bring the two in
individually, to negotiate and see which of the two is going to make us
the best offer," Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi said.
Since last fall, the county has entertained proposals from four
development groups to spruce up the Coliseum and develop the property
known as the Nassau County Hub.
In a memo to Suozzi, his panel of three county employees, headed by Deputy
County Executive Helena Williams, said the teams contending for the
project both have $1.6-billion proposals on the table. The panel will
consider and recommend to Suozzi what they consider the better deal.
Suozzi said he will "soon" submit his choice to the 19-member
Nassau County Legislature.
Both sides also propose paying the county $1.5 million in annual rent for
the Coliseum and the site -- and say they'd spend more than $300 million
on renovating the Coliseum and for constructing parking facilities.
David Blumenfeld and the Mets' Jeff Wilpon, who call their joint venture
the Coliseum Redevelopment Corp., said in a statement they look forward to
meeting with lawmakers to show "our proposal is best suited to meet
the long-term interest and needs of the community."
Wang and Reckson Associates developer Scott Rechler issued their own
statement, saying they were "pleased" to be finalists and
"will continue to work closely with the County for the betterment of
Long Island."
Wang removed from his proposal the controversial 60-story tower called the
"Lighthouse," which had been the centerpiece of his vision for
the area.
Wang has not made clear how he'd replace the tower, and county officials
said during negotiations they want more information on what he plans to
build.
His proposal also calls for extending the Islanders' lease through 2025
and building a sports technology center, housing and a conference
facility.
The Mets, in their proposal, said they are willing to participate with the
county in the cost of a new arena for the Islanders, county officials
said.
Suozzi has said the county will not use taxpayer funds on the project and
as an alternative to a new building, the Mets proposed $300 million in
renovations to the Coliseum and a parking facility.
They also offered to build a $52-million minor league baseball park, a
first for Nassau. They also would pay $25 million toward the construction
of a monorail system.
The panel's memo also praised the work of two other developers, Vincent
Polimeni and the Cordish Co. and Engel Burman Group of Lynbrook and Kabro
Associates.
It was the county's sports franchise requirement, Polimeni said, that left
him out.
"They asked us to keep our powder dry -- and if things don't work out
we could be back in it," Polimeni said.
Islanders Have Sites on Suffolk
by Chau Lam and Mark Harrington - January 28, 2006 -
Newsday
Two sites in Suffolk County under consideration as
a possible new home for the Islanders are on county-owned land next to
Suffolk County Community College campuses, one in Brentwood and the other
in Selden, a source close to the negotiations said Friday.
The Brentwood campus is next to the Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center and
the Selden campus is in the town of Brookhaven.
Ed Dumas, a spokesman for Suffolk County Executive
Steve Levy, would neither confirm nor deny that those two locations are
being considered.
"It's too early. It's too preliminary, and it would just be a mistake
to discuss sites at this stage of our discussion," Dumas said.
Meanwhile, Nassau officials expressed concern that talks between Islanders
owner Charles Wang and Suffolk have escalated.
"If [County Executive Thomas] Suozzi doesn't step up to the plate,
Nassau is really threatened with the loss of the Islanders," said Ed
Ward, a spokesman for Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa).
The discussions between Wang and Suffolk are being taken seriously, Nassau
Deputy County Executive Helena Williams said, but she pointed out the team
has a lease with Nassau through 2015.
Nassau Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) doesn't blame Wang for talking
to Suffolk.
"I am not surprised. The history with Wang is that if he doesn't get
what he wants he'll look elsewhere. Some people call it bullying. Some
call it smart business strategy. It's a little of both but I don't blame
him," Denenberg said.
Wang couldn't be reached for comment.
Wang, has proposed renovating Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the
hockey team plays. Wang, a billionaire who is also a developer, wants to
build a sports technology center, conference facility and other buildings
on the 77 county-owned acres surrounding the coliseum in central Nassau.
Wang proposed developing the project primarily by himself. But, after
pressure from the Nassau County Legislature, it was put out for a 45-day
bidding process. Wang's proposal is one of four being considered.
Frustrated with the slow progress, Wang approached Levy, and the parties
are drafting a memorandum of understanding calling for "exploring
plans, direction and an agreement" to relocate the Islanders,
according to two people involved in negotiations.
Wang asks Nassau to decide
By Bill Bleyer and Alan Hahn
Sportswriters
January 13, 2006
The topic of the news conference yesterday was a new
general manager for the Islanders, but team owner Charles Wang used the
occasion to sound off again on the Nassau Coliseum and the county's plans
to develop the area around it.
Wang said he's been talking to other venues on Long Island about moving
the team if Nassau County doesn't move quickly on replacing or upgrading
the aging Coliseum. "At one point, we won't be here," Wang said
at the Coliseum yesterday. "How long is the question and ... I can't
say exactly ... but it's pretty close, because you cannot subject the
fans, the organization, myself, to this kind of, basically, neglect, for
this long."
If the county chooses another proposal, Wang said,
"We are talking to public places on Long Island. ... We want to make
it a place where our fans get the kind of experience they want to pay to
enjoy. ... It's the county's responsibility to provide us a first-class
facility to play in. ... "
The billionaire businessman has criticized Nassau for not making a quick
decision on the bids. County Executive Thomas Suozzi initially gave him
the nod as the developer until county lawmakers insisted the bid process
be reopened. Suozzi spokesman Joseph Calderone said "we agree that
the Coliseum needs to be renovated. That's why we are in the midst of
reviewing four exciting proposals."
Wang and his partner, Reckson Associates Realty Corp., last month withdrew
a controversial plan for a 60-story tower that was to be the center of
their $1.5-billion proposal that calls for renovating the Coliseum and
building a sports technology center, conference facility and other
buildings on the 77 acres.
New York Mets Development Corp. and its partners, Sterling Equities and
Blumenfeld Development Group, have proposed a new Coliseum, a light rail
terminal and a minor-league baseball stadium. Vincent Polimeni and the
Cordish Co. have proposed a state-of-the-art county government seat. And
Long Island builders Engel Burman of Lynbrook with Kabro Associates want
to build four condo towers. The proposals are being evaluated by county
consultants.
Wang also commented on the Mets proposal, which he noted "is a
million square feet of retail, which makes it the biggest super-regional
shopping mall on Long Island, if not in the country. If that's what the
county wants, then the county should say so and go ahead and do it."
Tower plans topple
Wang says criticism of planned 60-story building
overwhelmed rest of proposal for Coliseum property
By Emi Endo
Staff Writer, Newsday
December 29, 2005
The tower is out.
New York Islanders owner Charles Wang has pulled off the table the
controversial 60-story tower that was the centerpiece of his vision for
redeveloping central Nassau County.
Complaining that criticism of the tower had overwhelmed
the rest of the $1.5 billion proposal, Wang and his partner refused
"to allow the Tower to be the political football that keeps the
Lighthouse Project from becoming a reality for the benefit of all of Long
Island," they wrote in a letter to the county. They said they would
instead seek to build an "appropriate" icon.
"The tower became an issue because people couldn't see past it,"
Scott Rechler, Wang's partner and chief executive of Reckson Associates
Realty Corp., said yesterday. "Charles pulled the tower so they could
concentrate on the important attributes -- the Coliseum, plans for
housing, the public transportation." Lighthouse spokesman Chris Botta
declined to comment yesterday.
Wang, the software billionaire, and Reckson Associates have proposed to
renovate Nassau Coliseum and build a sports technology center, conference
facility and other buildings on the surrounding 77 county-owned acres.
Called the Lighthouse Project, it was to be anchored by a landmark
high-rise hotel-residential building that Wang has described as "very
special, big and beautiful."
Rechler did not give an example yesterday of what might take the place of
the tower, but said, "It can't just be sprawling office buildings and
homes. It's got to be distinctive." He added they would work
"with the local community to determine what that could be. We really
want this to be seen as the center of Nassau County."
But Ed Ward, spokesman for the legislature's Republicans, said Wang's
offer to remove the tower still left too much to the unknown. "He
proposed to build a tower. Now he's taking it out, but he's not saying
what he's substituting, so you have an unknown amount of acreage with
unknown development ... "
The height of the tower immediately faced criticism that mounted during
County Executive Thomas Suozzi's fall re-election campaign as some
Republicans said that such a tall building would wreck Nassau's suburban
character. It appeared to be doomed when Suozzi said during an Oct. 24
debate that he no longer found the idea attractive. Last month, Wang
suggested that he was open to alternatives.
By the time the four competing developers had to submit their final offers
to the county last Friday, Wang had removed the tower.
For their part, the New York Mets Development Corp. and its partners,
Sterling Equities and the Blumenfeld Development Group, announced Tuesday
that they now plan to build a new coliseum rather than renovate the old
one, and would spend another $25 million to help build a light rail
terminal. Their plan would give Nassau its first minor-league baseball
stadium.
All proposals will now be evaluated by consultants to Suozzi, said deputy
county executive Helena Williams yesterday. She said the panel would
submit a report by mid-January. Suozzi will make his final recommendation
to the legislature, and lawmakers intend to hold hearings and choose a
plan next year.
The new revision to the Mets proposal prompted Legis. Lisanne Altmann
(D-Great Neck) to say yesterday that it looked the best. "You'd have
to imagine that they become the front-runner," Altmann said.
"Now maybe Wang will try to top the Blumenfeld offer. This is healthy
for taxpayers."
The other developers in the running are: Vincent Polimeni and the Cordish
Co., envisioning a state-of-the-art county seat, and longtime Long Island
builders Engel Burman of Lynbrook with Kabro Associates, offering four
condominium towers. The proposals range in cost from $725 million to more
than $1.5 billion. None of the other plans included buildings taller than
the nearby 15-story EAB Plaza.
After being chastised by lawmakers for reaching a lease agreement with
Wang in 2004 without a public bidding process, Suozzi agreed to seek
competing proposals.
Staff writers Celeste Hadrick and Lauren Weber contributed to this
story.
Photos
of the Four Renovation Proposals - Newsday
More Articles...
Charles
in Charge at Hub - Newsday March 16, 2006
Parkland
Proviso May be an Obstacle - Newsday March 16, 2006
Plan
afoot for Nassau baseball team - Newsday March 9, 2006
Either
Way, Nassau Can't Lose - Newsday February
19, 2006
Scoring
Chances - Newsday February 17, 2006
Bettman
Supports Wang - Newsday January 27, 2006
Islanders,
Suffolk go for Brokering - Newsday January
27, 2006
Mets
Toss Changeup - Newsday December 28, 2005
Politics
Dimming Wang's Nassau Coliseum Plan - Newsday October 26, 2005
Suozzi
pressed by challenger to scrap 'unfair' Coliseum plan - Newsday
October 20, 2005
Battle
for Nassau Coliseum Shakes Sports Landscape - New York Sun October 13,
2005
Coliseum
Group Adds Trump Player - Newsday October 7, 2005
Mets
in Coliseum Bid - Newsday October 4, 2005
Wang,
Reckson Team to Redevelop Coliseum - Newsday September 29, 2005
Text
of Balboni's Letter - Newsday March 15, 2005
Proposed
Lease Agreement - Newsday March 8, 2005
Q
& A on the Nassau County Coliseum - Newsday September 28, 2004
The
Reaction: Wang Tower Plan May be Shooting too High - Newsday September 27,
2004
Wang
Reveals Plan for Rebuilt Coliseum, 60-story Tower - Newsday September
27, 2004
Check out...
www.nassaucoliseum.com
www.lighthouseli.com
www.nassaucountyny.gov -
Redevelopment of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Site
*islesinfo.com comment: the above site is amazing as far as
information and contains all four proposals in .pdf form that have
been presented to Nassau County to redevelop Nassau Coliseum and the
surrounding area. I advise anyone who wants to know all there is about the
current situation on Long Island to check out this site!
History of the NVMC
Mitchel Field is a
former Army/Air Force base located in the center of Nassau County. This
1,200-acre base was shut down in 1960 and declared surplus property by the
U.S. Government. Nassau County obtained much of this property from the
government in 1961. With the obtainment of Mitchel Field, many proposals
were put forth. Some of the recommendations included a civic center, a
large central library, residential housing, museum and cultural center.
After consideration of these recommendations, the result was to build a
15,000 seat arena (additional seats were added from 1981-1984 that
increased the seating capacity to over 18,000). The arena was built at the
cost of 32 million dollars in 1972 and sits on sixty-three acres of Mitchel Field.
The building was dedicated to those who had made the supreme sacrifice for
their country; hence the name Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.(This is
an excerpt from nassaucoliseum.com and the rest
can be found here. It was obviously written by an employee of the SMG
Corporation, the Management organization that operates the Coliseum and
many other facilities across the United States. SMG has played a huge role
in the history of the Islanders ownership and pursuit of a new Nassau
Coliseum.)
The Four Proposals 1.
WANG'S PROPOSAL
Developers: Charles Wang, owner of New York Islanders and co-founder of Computer
Associates International of Islandia; Reckson Associates Realty
Corp.,
of Melville The plan: Residential, commercial and
retail, including a sports technology center, a state-of-the-art
conference facility and a hotel-condo tower
Centerpiece: The 60-story "Lighthouse" featuring an observation
deck, a five-star hotel and luxury condos
The Coliseum: $150 million to increase seating to 17,500 from 16,300 for
hockey games and up to 20,000 for concerts; adds 50 luxury suites to the
current 31
Total cost: $1 billion
2. METS' PROPOSAL
Developers: New York Mets Development Corp.,
Sterling Equities of Great
Neck, Blumenfeld Development Group of Syosset
The plan: A sports and entertainment development with hotel and convention
center, offices, housing and a monorail link to the LIRR
Centerpiece: A new arena and a minor-league baseball stadium
The Coliseum: Plan calls for building new arena in current parking lot,
and a new pedestrian bridge link with Hofstra University.
Total cost: $1.5 billion
3. THE COUNTY CENTER
Developers: Polimeni International, a Garden City real estate firm; and
The Cordish Co., a Baltimore entertainment development company
The plan: County government center and buildings for the Nassau police and
the Department of Social Services; an office building, three buildings of
apartments and condos
Centerpiece: A $75-million, 600,000-square-foot government center to
consolidate county offices
The Coliseum: $150 million to add skyboxes and rink-side boxes, and an
entertainment venue
Total cost: $725 million
4. CONDO/COMMERCIAL
Developers: Engel Burman of Lynbrook and Kabro Associates of Woodbury
The plan: Two proposals: one for using all 77 acres for condominiums and
office buildings, the other to use 40 acres for the condos
Centerpiece: About 800 condominium units in four 15-story towers,
including senior housing
The Coliseum: No plans
Total cost: $800 million
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