Sands to purchase Coliseum lease to develop on line casino

Las Vegas Sands plans to buy the long-term lease of the Nassau Coliseum web site to develop a “multi-billion-dollar” on line casino and leisure mission on the Uniondale property. 

Sands, which has been lobbying closely to snag one of many three downstate on line casino licenses, will companion with RXR on the deliberate mission, as RXR stays the grasp developer of the Coliseum web site. However Sands will now take the lead on the mission which can middle across the on line casino. 

Sources say Sands will likely be buying the Lengthy Island Marriott subsequent door to the Coliseum web site, as a part of its general on line casino plan. 

The resort parts of the proposed redevelopment would come with “out of doors neighborhood areas, four- and five-star lodge rooms and a world-class dwell efficiency venue honoring the lengthy legacy of dwell music on the Nassau Coliseum,” in accordance with a Sands assertion. The plan contains “superstar chef eating places, experiential occasions and venues and versatile assembly and conference area, together with ballrooms,” Sands says.  

The precise on line casino is deliberate to occupy lower than 10 p.c of the mission’s whole sq. footage. 

“Our firm’s observe document of driving important financial advantages to the communities by which we function and the significant relationships and partnerships we have now created in every of these communities provides us a novel perspective on what it takes to develop transformative tourism locations that positively influence the area people,” Robert Goldstein, Sands chairman and CEO mentioned within the assertion. “Primarily based on that have, we strongly imagine Lengthy Island might be house to one of many area’s nice leisure and hospitality developments.” 

Goldstein added that the proposed mission would produce “tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars}” in annual tax income together with hundreds of union jobs in each development and operations. 

Scott Rechler, RXR CEO and chairman, mentioned that Lengthy Islanders desire a international famend leisure vacation spot that creates well-paying jobs and new alternatives on the Nassau Hub. 

“However the problem for turning this imaginative and prescient into actuality has all the time been the business viability of a web site encumbered by a virtually out of date half-century-old enviornment,” Rechler mentioned within the assertion. “The plan envisioned by Sands is a once-in-a-generation alternative to create the form of world-renowned leisure and hospitality vacation spot that has been wanted by Lengthy Islanders.” 

RXR had pitched a $1.5 billion mixed-use redevelopment of the 70-acre Coliseum web site, however that was placed on maintain as soon as on line casino plans heated up. Even when Sands doesn’t get the sought-after on line casino license, the mission will go ahead as a hospitality and leisure advanced with out gaming.

The state started accepting proposals this month for 3 full-fledged casinos within the New York metro space, although it’s not but clear the place they are going to be situated. Many observers count on one will seemingly go to the present Empire Metropolis On line casino in Yonkers and one other will likely be sited at Resorts World in Queens. On line casino teams have pitched websites like Hudson Yards and Occasions Sq. in Manhattan, Coney Island in Brooklyn and Willets Level in Queens, amongst others.

The present leaseholder of the Coliseum property is Nassau Reside, an affiliate of lender US Immigration Fund, which took over the property in August 2020 from the earlier leaseholder Onexim Sports activities & Leisure. The lender funded $100 million for the renovation of the Coliseum earlier than turning into the property’s leaseholder. 

“As a Lengthy Islander, the property and the Coliseum has all the time been near my coronary heart. Due to that unwavering perception within the web site’s potential, we rolled up our sleeves throughout an unprecedented problem, the COVID-19 pandemic, and took over possession of the Coliseum and noticed it by means of that powerful interval, which included full closure for greater than a 12 months,” Nick Mastroianni II, principal of Nassau Reside, mentioned through electronic mail. “We’ve labored tirelessly to place in place a long-term sport plan that ensures that the property fulfills its huge financial potential. Via these efforts, it turned clear that the Las Vegas Sands is uniquely positioned to realize that potential, and given the location’s significance to neighborhood, I’m thrilled that it is going to be in such good arms.”