17,500-Seat Arena-Anchored Mixed-Use Development Approved Without A Team In Mind
Suffolk County, Long Island, is getting a major mixed-use development centered around an arena big enough to host a Big Four professional sports team. It is unclear if it will ever get that team.
JLL is the developer behind the proposal for a $1B project centered around a 17,500-seat arena in Ronkonkoma, nearly 50 miles from Midtown Manhattan, Newsday reports. The proposal was one of four for the county-owned, 40-acre site in between a Long Island Railroad station and the regional MacArthur Airport, and was chosen just weeks after bids were due.
JLL partnered with investment banker Ray Bartoszek, who lives in Montana but owns property in the Hamptons, to pitch the privately funded project, which would also include two community ice rinks, a 500K SF hotel, retail, offices and a sports medicine facility, according to Newsday.
The lack of a team in place for a major league-scale arena — and the lack of prospects that could come in the future — along with the expedited approval have some locals raising their eyebrows.
"It’s nice to build an arena, but is there a team that’s going to come there?” Suffolk County chief legislator DuWayne Gregory told Newsday. “What’s the likelihood of that? We certainly would not like to see empty buildings.”
The New York Islanders are leaving Brooklyn's Barclays Center, and their former home, the Nassau Coliseum, is undergoing a renovation that would make it unsuitable for NHL hockey. But the Islanders have already selected a site in Belmont Park in Nassau County to build their next arena, with plans to play there by the 2022 season.
