Blumenfeld Development Group is going up against some stiff competition in its bid to redevelop the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, with both Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner also seeking to win rights to the project.
But, according to the firm’s founder and president Ed Blumenfeld, his Syosset-based company has the home-field advantage.
“As opposed to the other people we are Long Islanders. We have been here for 40 years. We’re not leaving,” Blumenfeld said.
Blumenfeld’s plan, unlike the three competing proposals, calls for the building of a new arena rather than the renovation of the existing Coliseum, which combined with a new convention center is projected to cost the firm about $200 million. The rebuild will be followed by the creation of a surrounding entertainment and retail space, said Blumenfeld.
“I think we have the best proposal for the county. We’re going to give them a totally new venue,” Blumenfeld said. “We’re going to create an entertainment and family-oriented district which will support sports, concerts, family entertainment, lifestyle, housing and become a downtown.”
The new arena will be able to accommodate about 10,000 people, a significant downsize from the current venue’s 18,000 capacity. Blumenfeld said the arena will attract a broad range of entertainment options, including top-flight musical artists and Division I college basketball.
“We hope to bring concerts, all of the other events that you typically see at these arenas,” Blumenfeld said.
The decision to build an arena from the ground up rather than renovate was dismissed by Madison Square Garden and Bruce Ratner’s group, who have both called a new arena cost prohibitive.
But Blumenfeld’s analysis came to a very different conclusion, he said.
“[We] came to the conclusion it would cost more to renovate that than to build a new arena,” Blumenfeld said.
The new arena would be operated by SMG, the international arena management company that currently oversees the Coliseum. SMG’s size and global reach would help the new space attract top-tier bookings, according to Blumenfeld.
Madison Square Garden and Ratner have both cited their New York City-based venues as advantages in booking, saying their existing relationships with talent and promoters would help them fill the Coliseum’s schedule.
But Blumenfeld argued that his two largest competitors for the bid would end up competing against themselves should they win the rights to develop the Coliseum.
“We don’t have a conflict of interest because this will be our primary source and venue, as opposed to the other proposees who have main venues elsewhere,” Blumenfeld said.
And, Blumenfeld said, there would be no arena closure during construction. The firm plans to build the new arena on a different part of the plot than the current Coliseum, allowing the Coliseum to stay open until its replacement is ready for business.
Blumenfeld compared the arrangement to the transition between Shea Stadium and Citi Field. The New York Mets’ historic home was closed only after its replacement was finished.
“We would keep the existing arena open and operating,” Blumenfeld said.
Blumenfeld, who grew up in Franklin Square and currently lives on the North Shore, described himself as a die-hard Islanders fan and expressed regret about the team’s scheduled departure for Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, but said he was optimistic about the prospects for the Nassau Hub.
“I wish we’d kept the Islanders. I feel it was a slap in the face to Nassau County to lose them,” Blumenfeld said. “But I feel that we can create an exciting, important district that will reap millions of dollars of reward to the county and the school district.”
Ratner and Madison Square Garden have pledged their dedication to the project and to working with the county, but Blumenfeld touted the importance of his home-grown pedigree and the experience his company has with development in Nassau.
“I think Long Islanders care about Nassau and New Yorkers care about New York,” Blumenfeld said.
