Bids Come in to Redevelop LI Arena

UNIONDALE, NY-Responding to an RFP from Nassau County to reinvent the 40-year-old Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum here, four proposals have been submitted, according to published reports. The RFP is in line with the strategic reuse plan developed for the county by Forest City Ratner Cos.' Bruce Ratner, whom Newsday identified on Wednesday as one of the bidders.

Newsday reported that Ratner, who on Wednesday stepped down as CEO of FCRC while remaining chairman, told a sports facilities conference in Brooklyn that he had submitted a bid to redevelop the Nassau Coliseum with an “iconic design” that would “create a Nassau like never before.” The developer of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which lured the Islanders hockey franchise away from the coliseum as of 2015, reportedly said he had put together an “unprecedented team” to bid on the RFP.

A spokesman for Barclays Center confirms that FCRC submitted a bid. "We are very pleased to have submitted a proposal for the redevelopment of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum," he tells GlobeSt.com. "We cannot go into the details of our plan out of respect for the process. We can say, however, that we have assembled an unprecedented partnership group with the goal to deliver a re-imagined arena that will make Nassau and all of Long Island proud."

Ratner's strategic reuse plan entails “right-sizing” the 16,000-seat arena, used for concerts as well as sporting events, into a smaller facility that could seat 8,000 to 12,000.  The arena's reduced footprint would free parking lot space for other uses.

The winning bidder would work alongside Renaissance Downtowns, the Plainview, NY developer that is planning a $2-billion biotechnology park and mixed-use development on the land surrounding the arena. “A 'right-sized' arena offering appropriate amenities would be a successful family oriented sports and entertainment venue that creates significant revenue for the county and its taxpayers,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said in a statement last month. “Its ability to complement the surrounding development being planned by Renaissance Downtown would ensure that, together, the economic sum would be greater than its combined parts.”

The county would get a percentage of the gross revenue from arena events, helping to pay down Nassau's $1.2 billion in debt from property tax assessment settlements, Mangano told Newsday earlier this week. The winning bid would be subject to approval by the county legislature.