Nassau County Executive Laura Curran has asked developers for proposals for the Nassau Hub property less than a month after denying a lease extension for the plot.
The request calls for plans from developers interested in partnering with Nassau County for a new “Nassau Hub Innovation District” on the 72 acres surrounding the Nassau Coliseum in East Garden City.
“We are casting a wide net and looking for innovative proposals,” Curran told Newsday. “We want as many ideas as possible and are very interested in a corporate employer and high-wage jobs.”
The deadline for the request is July 20.
A few days before the deadline in May, Curran denied extending the lease for Blumenfeld Development Group of Syosset, which offered plans on May 2 to develop entertainment and retail facilities on the area surrounding the Coliseum.
Blumenfeld and Forest City, which were at one time working together to develop the property known as Coliseum Plaza, have been embroiled in a legal dispute since 2015, and the county had been granting extensions on the lease in 60- or 90-day periods.
Previously, Curran said since a plan was announced to build a new arena for the New York Islanders as well as a hotel, retail and office space near Belmont Park, the plans for the Nassau Hub needed to be different, including a potential biotech park, housing, pedestrian walkways and a rapid bus transit system connecting the site, which has no Long Island Rail Road stop, to the Mineola and Hempstead stations nearby.
Reach reporter Amelia Camurati by email at acamurati@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516-307-1045, ext. 215, or follow her on Twitter @acamurati.
