$1.3B Islanders arena approved by New York government

Dive Brief:

New York's Economic State Development (ESD) agency has approved the development of a $1.3 billion New York Islanders hockey arena and entertainment complex on a piece of the Belmont Park horse racing track property in Elmont, New York.
According to documents that the ESD reviewed at its last meeting, the privately funded project, which will sit on 43 acres divided by a turnpike, will include the arena — which will have 19,000 seats and encompass 715,000 square feet. It will also include an experiential retail component of between 85,000 square feet and 135,000 square feet; a 250-room hotel; 30,000 square feet of office space; 10,000 square feet of community space; a 350,000-square-foot retail village with 3,000 below-grade parking spaces; and almost 4 acres of open space.
Thomas Conoscenti, vice president of real estate development at the ESD, told the board that the project will use at least 30% minority- and women-owned contractors and 6% service-disabled, veteran-owned contractors. Construction of the new complex is expected to create 10,000 temporary jobs.

Dive Insight:

New York Arena Partners, a joint venture between Sterling Equities, the Scott Malkin Group, Madison Square Garden and the Oak View Group, is leading the project. The state Franchise Oversight Board project must still conduct an environmental review, according to Reuters, before it has a clear path forward.

The project has been met with some resistance from local activists who have expressed concern that the arena development will create more traffic congestion, noise, pollution and dangerous conditions in their neighborhoods and near schools.

The new Islanders development will be in competition with the nearby NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum and a planned $1.5 billion, 72-acre project around the Coliseum called the Nassau Hub. The Coliseum plan is scheduled to include 500 new residences; 600,000 square feet of office and biotech research space; 200,000 square feet of experiential retail; two parking garages; two hotels; and several medical buildings.

In November, Northwell Health announced it was exploring the development of a 225,000-square-foot innovation center at the Nassau Hub site. Developers BSE Global and RXR Realty were working with Northwell on a plan and refining the costs. The center as proposed would accommodate clinical and medical research, as well as exhibition, education, training and conference events.