Forest City Wins Nassau Contract

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – The Long Island, N.Y., venue could be in for a renovation.

County officials have been trying to decide how to redevelop the aging building for years and apparently were moved by a proposal from Nassau Events Center, LLC, a Ratner subsidiary.

NEC’s plan includes an $89 million renovation to lower the Coliseum’s capacity to 13,000 and create a theater configuration inside the arena bowl to suit 4,000- to 8,000-capacity events.

Also included are a monument to veterans and a surrounding $140 million entertainment district.

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announced during a press conference Aug. 15 NEC will transform the arena “into an attractive, first-class destination for family fun, sports and entertainment.”

“Today, I announce the proposer who provided the best opportunity for Nassau County residents; one that will create jobs and opportunities, one that generates the greatest revenue for the county and completely relieves the county of costly capital expenditures,” he said. “This is a public-private partnership where we share in the revenue and not the expense.”

The county will reportedly receive 8 percent of gross revenues from the building and 12.75 percent from parking fees over a 34-year-lease term.

However, it’s unclear exactly where those revenues may come from.

The Coliseum is losing its major tenant – the NHL’s New York Islanders – to the Barclays Center when the team’s lease expires in 2015. Madison Square Garden Co. and SMG also submitted bids for the project.