Vlad the Great
September 28th, 2004, 11:28 PM
The articles:
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Newsday:
Wang unveils plan for rebuilt Coliseum, 60-story tower
By Monte R. Young and Jamie Herzlich
September 27, 2004
New York Islander owner Charles Wang unveiled his vision for a $200 million "transformation" of the aging Nassau Coliseum Monday afternoon, and it includes additional seating and the construction of a athletic complex adjacent to the facility.
"What we are doing here is great for Long Island, great for New York. It will bring business and jobs to the area and dollars to the county and state," said Michael Picker, senior vice president of operations for the Islanders and the New York Dragons arena football team.
Calling it "The Coliseum At The Lighthouse," Picker said that Wang's "vision" for the area would also include developing the 72 acres surrounding the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. He said it would include "The Great Lighthouse," which will be a 60 story building with a 10,000 square foot observatory deck for sight-seeing with a hundred mile of unobstructed view.
Beneath the deck, will be the Grand Hotel at the Lighthouse, that will host a 5 star hotel with restaurants, ballrooms and sky terraces. The lobby of the hotel will be on the 40th floor and every room, officials said, will have a "incredible views." Beneath the grand hotel, will be luxury condominiums ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 square feet.
Picker said there is also a proposal to develop "The Residences At The Lighthouse, that will be a "affordable priced" mid-rise rental apartments in the heart of the Lighthouse and connected to the Athletic Complex and the Coliseum.
Financial details of the proposed plan by Wang, were sketchy. Picker said the major overhaul of the coliseum and construction of the athletic complex will be done with help from state, county and Wang. He would not release further details. Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi would not comment on the proposed plan.
Some members of the development community said Monday that the grandiose project still has to face many hurdles including county and town approvals.
"It's highly unlikely the Town of Hempstead will grant something like that becasue its contrary to most of the development on the Island," said Desmond Ryan, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, a developer's lobbying group. "The approval process is like root canal without anesthesia."
After all, EAB Plaza is only 15 stories high and the closest comparison would be the Citicorp Building in Long Island City with 50 floors. Town of Hempstead officials yesterday said it had not seen the plans and could not comment. Still, local real estate experts said it is common for developers to ask for more than they would get.
"They usually start out with something very dramatic with high levels of expectation," said Paul Amoruso, managing director of Oxford & Simpson in Jericho, which has developed office, retail and hotel projects. "Then negotiations begin. It's part of the whole process."
But, he added, f anyone could get something like this off the ground it would be Wang. "He's very well respected by government leaders," said Amoruso.
Aside from the tower proposal, the business community was upbeat about a revamped coliseum, which would include eateries and a retail component with at least 12 entertainment retail stores.
"What we see all over the country is the creation of suburban mixed use centers," said Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, a research and advocacy group in Manhattan. "I think it has enormous potential."
As for the retail component, experts said Wang should try to differentiate the stores from others in the surrounding area given the close proximity of Roosevelt Field Mall.
Wang has continued to forge ahead on a new arena in Nassau County despite dropping out of the bidding for the New Jersey Nets late last year, when developer Bruce Ratner was given the rights to buy the team and move it to a site in downtown Brooklyn.
County officials have viewed a coliseum project as central to the redevelopment of the central Nassau Hub, which stretches from the EAB Plaza in Uniondale on the southeast to Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City on the northwest.
Suozzi has never unveiled any specific plans for redevelopoing the Coliseum or surrounding areas, but he's said plans would call for the construction of two industries along the lines of technology, financial services, computers or electronics. He's also said development of more entertainment and sports facilities were important.
To support the construction and development, Suozzi has said in the past that the county plans to ease traffic flow and build a transportation system that makes it easier to get to the Hub from New York City and other Long Island communities.
Many had remained encouraged that Wang might be able to bring a pro baskeball team to Long Island, and in doing so, boost chances for a significant redevelopment of the Coliseum. But Wang said the timing of the Nets sale clashed with the arena process.
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NY Post
ISLES HOPE TO RENOVATE COLISEUM
By EVAN GROSSMAN
September 28, 2004
The NHL season may be paralyzed by a lockout right now, but the Islanders are very much in the process of planning a rebuilding of the archaic Nassau Coliseum as part of a project that would also include the building of a 60-story lighthouse, it was learned yesterday.
The Islanders and owner Charles Wang have yet to hammer out a deal with state and local governments as far as financing the project, but the initial costs for the first of two phases begins at over $200 million. According to Michael Picker, the Islanders VP of operations, the team hopes to break ground on the drastic and innovative arena renovations in June 2006 or 2007, with the Isles beginning play there in 2009. The project would take place over the summer months, allowing the Isles to play their home games as scheduled.
For years, the Islanders have been working on upgrading their 16,234-seat building, the second-oldest structure in the league, either in erecting an entirely new arena; or in this case, improving on the hallowed barn on Hempstead Turnpike that housed a Stanley Cup dynasty 25 years ago.
"It's an exciting project," Picker told The Post. "It's really kind of neat."
The first phase would center on renovating the existing Coliseum, adding a band of ice-level luxury suites to the area, which would be the lowest such boxes in the league; sinking the ice to raise the hockey capacity to 17,500 seats (20,000 for concerts and 18,000 for basketball); constructing a two-sheet practice facility for the team and a 50,000-square foot athletic complex and health club. Suspended from the roof, directly over center ice, would be a bar and grill restaurant.
Phase II, "The Lighthouse," includes construction of a 60-story vintage Long Island lighthouse, which would be the tallest in the world and would house a five-star hotel, offices, condominiums and an observatory. In addition to the lighthouse, which Picker called the "iconographic image of Long Island," the project calls for a 500-seat amphitheater, village and plaza with shops and cafes.
More important for the Islanders would be ripping up the existing lease on the Coliseum with SMG, the company that owns and maintains the building. That lease, which expires in 2015, has been a hemorrhage to the team's financial books because they pay such a high percentage of ticket, parking and concession income to SMG and thus cannot turn a profit no matter how many games they sell out. The Islanders hope out to negotiate a new, more favorable lease with SMG.
"We want to work something out," Picker said, "and keep them part of the equation."
So while hockey has screeched to a halt, the Islanders are full steam ahead on a long-awaited arena upgrade.
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NY Times
60-Story Building Is Proposed Near Nassau Coliseum
By BRUCE LAMBERT and RICHARD SANDOMIR
September 28, 2004
The co-owner of the New York Islanders hockey team is proposing a 60-story tower in the center of Nassau County - more than triple the height of the tallest existing building on Long Island.
The tower, to be called the Great Lighthouse, would be capped by a giant spotlight and a 10,000-square foot observation deck. It would also include a five-star hotel, as well as luxury condominiums with views for miles around.
The plan is being developed by Charles B. Wang, the multimillionaire founder of the Computer Associates software company, in Islandia.
His proposed complex - adjacent to the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, where the Islanders play - would include other buildings with rental apartments, a 500-seat amphitheater, two skating rinks, basketball and volleyball courts, offices, restaurants, shops, a plaza, a health club, an exhibition hall and a center to help athletes improve their performance.
In the first stage of Mr. Wang's plan, the Coliseum itself would be modernized and expanded to a capacity of 17,500 from 16,300 by 2009, with all new seats, at a projected cost of $200 million. The tower and the rest of the complex would take several more years.
With the Lighthouse, Mr. Wang's vision evokes a fabled Long Island image. "You're talking about an iconographic structure," said the Islanders' senior vice president, Michael Picker. "Paris has its tower, and London has its bridge."
But the project's extraordinary scale is already provoking debate in a suburban culture where residents sometimes oppose four-story buildings as "high rise." The tallest building in Nassau and Suffolk Counties is the 19-story Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. Symbolic of the aversion that some suburbanites have to reminders of New York City skyscrapers, the top floor has remained vacant ever since the center was built 30 years ago.
No homes immediately adjoin the proposed tower site. It is surrounded by Mitchel Park, Hofstra University, Nassau Community College, a Marriott hotel, Eisenhower Park, Long Island's tallest office building, EAB Plaza - at a mere 15 stories - and a residential corner of Uniondale.
The tower would be visible far and wide. "It's pretty hard to isolate a 60-story building," said Dr. Lee E. Koppelman, executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board. "Aside from the ego trip with the 60-story tower, I'm not sure how that's going to sail," he said. He praised parts of the plan as "valid uses" but said it must solve financing and transportation issues. "They're suffering from strangulated traffic there right now," he said.
The project would require approval from Nassau County, which owns the Coliseum and the land, and from the Town of Hempstead.
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Renderings:
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/2973/14422436.jpg
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/6205/14422446.jpg
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/3079/14422447.jpg
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/9430/14422449.jpg
Thanks to NYguy on SSP for posting this there.
Summary: In Uniondale there's a 60 story tower proposed that would include a lighthouse on top, and feature unobstructed views of Montauk and Manhattan. It would be built as a part of the Long Island Coliseum Redevelopment.
Well, what do you guys think? :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsday:
Wang unveils plan for rebuilt Coliseum, 60-story tower
By Monte R. Young and Jamie Herzlich
September 27, 2004
New York Islander owner Charles Wang unveiled his vision for a $200 million "transformation" of the aging Nassau Coliseum Monday afternoon, and it includes additional seating and the construction of a athletic complex adjacent to the facility.
"What we are doing here is great for Long Island, great for New York. It will bring business and jobs to the area and dollars to the county and state," said Michael Picker, senior vice president of operations for the Islanders and the New York Dragons arena football team.
Calling it "The Coliseum At The Lighthouse," Picker said that Wang's "vision" for the area would also include developing the 72 acres surrounding the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. He said it would include "The Great Lighthouse," which will be a 60 story building with a 10,000 square foot observatory deck for sight-seeing with a hundred mile of unobstructed view.
Beneath the deck, will be the Grand Hotel at the Lighthouse, that will host a 5 star hotel with restaurants, ballrooms and sky terraces. The lobby of the hotel will be on the 40th floor and every room, officials said, will have a "incredible views." Beneath the grand hotel, will be luxury condominiums ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 square feet.
Picker said there is also a proposal to develop "The Residences At The Lighthouse, that will be a "affordable priced" mid-rise rental apartments in the heart of the Lighthouse and connected to the Athletic Complex and the Coliseum.
Financial details of the proposed plan by Wang, were sketchy. Picker said the major overhaul of the coliseum and construction of the athletic complex will be done with help from state, county and Wang. He would not release further details. Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi would not comment on the proposed plan.
Some members of the development community said Monday that the grandiose project still has to face many hurdles including county and town approvals.
"It's highly unlikely the Town of Hempstead will grant something like that becasue its contrary to most of the development on the Island," said Desmond Ryan, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, a developer's lobbying group. "The approval process is like root canal without anesthesia."
After all, EAB Plaza is only 15 stories high and the closest comparison would be the Citicorp Building in Long Island City with 50 floors. Town of Hempstead officials yesterday said it had not seen the plans and could not comment. Still, local real estate experts said it is common for developers to ask for more than they would get.
"They usually start out with something very dramatic with high levels of expectation," said Paul Amoruso, managing director of Oxford & Simpson in Jericho, which has developed office, retail and hotel projects. "Then negotiations begin. It's part of the whole process."
But, he added, f anyone could get something like this off the ground it would be Wang. "He's very well respected by government leaders," said Amoruso.
Aside from the tower proposal, the business community was upbeat about a revamped coliseum, which would include eateries and a retail component with at least 12 entertainment retail stores.
"What we see all over the country is the creation of suburban mixed use centers," said Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, a research and advocacy group in Manhattan. "I think it has enormous potential."
As for the retail component, experts said Wang should try to differentiate the stores from others in the surrounding area given the close proximity of Roosevelt Field Mall.
Wang has continued to forge ahead on a new arena in Nassau County despite dropping out of the bidding for the New Jersey Nets late last year, when developer Bruce Ratner was given the rights to buy the team and move it to a site in downtown Brooklyn.
County officials have viewed a coliseum project as central to the redevelopment of the central Nassau Hub, which stretches from the EAB Plaza in Uniondale on the southeast to Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City on the northwest.
Suozzi has never unveiled any specific plans for redevelopoing the Coliseum or surrounding areas, but he's said plans would call for the construction of two industries along the lines of technology, financial services, computers or electronics. He's also said development of more entertainment and sports facilities were important.
To support the construction and development, Suozzi has said in the past that the county plans to ease traffic flow and build a transportation system that makes it easier to get to the Hub from New York City and other Long Island communities.
Many had remained encouraged that Wang might be able to bring a pro baskeball team to Long Island, and in doing so, boost chances for a significant redevelopment of the Coliseum. But Wang said the timing of the Nets sale clashed with the arena process.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Post
ISLES HOPE TO RENOVATE COLISEUM
By EVAN GROSSMAN
September 28, 2004
The NHL season may be paralyzed by a lockout right now, but the Islanders are very much in the process of planning a rebuilding of the archaic Nassau Coliseum as part of a project that would also include the building of a 60-story lighthouse, it was learned yesterday.
The Islanders and owner Charles Wang have yet to hammer out a deal with state and local governments as far as financing the project, but the initial costs for the first of two phases begins at over $200 million. According to Michael Picker, the Islanders VP of operations, the team hopes to break ground on the drastic and innovative arena renovations in June 2006 or 2007, with the Isles beginning play there in 2009. The project would take place over the summer months, allowing the Isles to play their home games as scheduled.
For years, the Islanders have been working on upgrading their 16,234-seat building, the second-oldest structure in the league, either in erecting an entirely new arena; or in this case, improving on the hallowed barn on Hempstead Turnpike that housed a Stanley Cup dynasty 25 years ago.
"It's an exciting project," Picker told The Post. "It's really kind of neat."
The first phase would center on renovating the existing Coliseum, adding a band of ice-level luxury suites to the area, which would be the lowest such boxes in the league; sinking the ice to raise the hockey capacity to 17,500 seats (20,000 for concerts and 18,000 for basketball); constructing a two-sheet practice facility for the team and a 50,000-square foot athletic complex and health club. Suspended from the roof, directly over center ice, would be a bar and grill restaurant.
Phase II, "The Lighthouse," includes construction of a 60-story vintage Long Island lighthouse, which would be the tallest in the world and would house a five-star hotel, offices, condominiums and an observatory. In addition to the lighthouse, which Picker called the "iconographic image of Long Island," the project calls for a 500-seat amphitheater, village and plaza with shops and cafes.
More important for the Islanders would be ripping up the existing lease on the Coliseum with SMG, the company that owns and maintains the building. That lease, which expires in 2015, has been a hemorrhage to the team's financial books because they pay such a high percentage of ticket, parking and concession income to SMG and thus cannot turn a profit no matter how many games they sell out. The Islanders hope out to negotiate a new, more favorable lease with SMG.
"We want to work something out," Picker said, "and keep them part of the equation."
So while hockey has screeched to a halt, the Islanders are full steam ahead on a long-awaited arena upgrade.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Times
60-Story Building Is Proposed Near Nassau Coliseum
By BRUCE LAMBERT and RICHARD SANDOMIR
September 28, 2004
The co-owner of the New York Islanders hockey team is proposing a 60-story tower in the center of Nassau County - more than triple the height of the tallest existing building on Long Island.
The tower, to be called the Great Lighthouse, would be capped by a giant spotlight and a 10,000-square foot observation deck. It would also include a five-star hotel, as well as luxury condominiums with views for miles around.
The plan is being developed by Charles B. Wang, the multimillionaire founder of the Computer Associates software company, in Islandia.
His proposed complex - adjacent to the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, where the Islanders play - would include other buildings with rental apartments, a 500-seat amphitheater, two skating rinks, basketball and volleyball courts, offices, restaurants, shops, a plaza, a health club, an exhibition hall and a center to help athletes improve their performance.
In the first stage of Mr. Wang's plan, the Coliseum itself would be modernized and expanded to a capacity of 17,500 from 16,300 by 2009, with all new seats, at a projected cost of $200 million. The tower and the rest of the complex would take several more years.
With the Lighthouse, Mr. Wang's vision evokes a fabled Long Island image. "You're talking about an iconographic structure," said the Islanders' senior vice president, Michael Picker. "Paris has its tower, and London has its bridge."
But the project's extraordinary scale is already provoking debate in a suburban culture where residents sometimes oppose four-story buildings as "high rise." The tallest building in Nassau and Suffolk Counties is the 19-story Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. Symbolic of the aversion that some suburbanites have to reminders of New York City skyscrapers, the top floor has remained vacant ever since the center was built 30 years ago.
No homes immediately adjoin the proposed tower site. It is surrounded by Mitchel Park, Hofstra University, Nassau Community College, a Marriott hotel, Eisenhower Park, Long Island's tallest office building, EAB Plaza - at a mere 15 stories - and a residential corner of Uniondale.
The tower would be visible far and wide. "It's pretty hard to isolate a 60-story building," said Dr. Lee E. Koppelman, executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board. "Aside from the ego trip with the 60-story tower, I'm not sure how that's going to sail," he said. He praised parts of the plan as "valid uses" but said it must solve financing and transportation issues. "They're suffering from strangulated traffic there right now," he said.
The project would require approval from Nassau County, which owns the Coliseum and the land, and from the Town of Hempstead.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Renderings:
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/2973/14422436.jpg
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/6205/14422446.jpg
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/3079/14422447.jpg
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/9430/14422449.jpg
Thanks to NYguy on SSP for posting this there.
Summary: In Uniondale there's a 60 story tower proposed that would include a lighthouse on top, and feature unobstructed views of Montauk and Manhattan. It would be built as a part of the Long Island Coliseum Redevelopment.
Well, what do you guys think? :)