Major Development Mapped for Nassau County

The majority owner of the New York Islanders, Charles Wang, has inked a memorandum of understanding with Nassau County officials to develop the 77-acre property around the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. A 60-story tower is slated to rise next to the arena, which currently serves as home to his National Hockey League franchise.

The deal outlined in a press release includes a $200 million first phase covering major planned renovations to the arena and a new 50,000-sq. ft. athletic complex. The release pegs work on that phase to begin in 2006 or 2007, wrapping up in 2009. The architect for that phase is Murray Beynon, partner-in-charge of SCI/BBB.

The proposal also calls for a future new development, dubbed The Lighthouse, in the remaining space. The highlight would be the tallest building on Long Island, which would house a five-star hotel, luxury condominiums, and a 10,000-sq. ft. observatory deck. Among a dozen other planned buildings would be an 110,000-sq. ft. conference center and additional residential structures.

The release does not announce a start date for the rest of the development, but estimates construction build-out would take eight to 10 years. According to a spokesman, Wang would fund the first phase, with the later development intended to tap a mix of his funds along with state and county resources. Wang, a multimillionaire who founded and later left software developer Computer Associates, bought the Islanders in April 2000.

Underpinning the deal are plans for Wang to buy out the current leaseholder for the site, SMG Corporation. The county is the owner of record for the property, but the plan would still require further approval from the Town of Hempstead, the county legislature, and other permitting agencies.

The announcement comes as the arena sits dark during its normal busy time, with the Islanders and other National Hockey League teams inactive because of a labor dispute with players. Some observers have predicted the impasse will wipe out the 2004-05 NHL season.

New N.J. Cancer Center

Construction recently started on a new 85,000-sq.-ft. ambulatory cancer care facility in Basking Ridge, N.J. for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The center, the company's first stand-alone facility in New Jersey, is slated to open in summer 2006.

The facility is on part of a 26-acre wooded parcel in Somerset County in central New Jersey, within the Mountain View Corporate Center near Interstate 78. It will house facilities for chemotherapy, radiology, and outpatient and diagnostic surgery. It also will feature meeting rooms and space for cancer prevention and educational programming. Design, construction, and full fit-out would run $72.5 million, according to a release.

Sloan-Kettering signed on Philadelphia-based EwingCole as architect and New York-based Barr & Barr as general contractor. The design would allow the facility to expand to 162,000 sq. ft. in the future.

Work Underway at Arts Center

A 400-seat performance venue is taking shape in Queens with the recent start of construction on a 12,000-sq.-ft. facility commissioned jointly by the New York City Department of Design and Construction and Department of Cultural Affairs.

The new $10.5 million Jamaica Performing Arts Center designed by Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP will be located within the 146-year-old First Reformed Church of Jamaica, a landmark building. Initial clearing and excavation work began in May, and construction started in early fall, according to a spokesman. The schedule calls for project completion in 2006.

The adaptive reuse project will transform the church into a theater with 325 main-level seats and 75 balcony seats. The renovation will also involve rebuilding support spaces and a conference center for community use. On the exterior, the project team will restore the façade and windows, including stained glass.

PMS Construction Management of New Rochelle, N.Y., is leading the project team as construction manager, joined by Robert Silman Associates of New York as structural engineer, theatrical consultant Peter George Associates of New York, and landscape architect Eberlin & Eberlin, P.C. of Somers, N.Y.

Madison Avenue Condo Breaks Ground

A 41,000-sq.-ft. condominium development that will feature full-floor residences and a duplex penthouse over 11 floors broke ground in early fall on the corner of Madison Avenue and 96th Street in Manhattan. The building will also have retail space on the ground floor, according to a release.

The building, slated for completion in late 2005, would feature a limestone and granite base with a brick façade and oversized 7-ft. tall window bays capped with stone on a design by H. Thomas O'Hara Architects and Barry Rice Architects. The eight one-floor apartments would have 3,000 sq. ft., while the penthouse would have 4,700 sq. ft. All would have four bedrooms.

New York-based developers Stuart Boesky and Jamison Weiner, of Madison 96 Associates LLC, hired Marson Contracting Co., Inc. of the Bronx as builder.

New Chelsea Rental Tops Out on 23rd Street

A $120-million building under development at 555 W. 23rd St. between 10th and 11th Avenues in Manhattan topped out recently, according to a spokeswoman for Douglaston Development. The 14-story building will be a luxury rental upon its opening in early 2005.

Douglaston affiliate Levine Builders, led by Jeffrey Levine, began construction earlier this year on the building, which will have 337 studio-, one- and two-bedroom rental apartments.

The current phase involves completing installation of the building's industrial-style brick façade, which includes floor-to-ceiling windows. The structure also has a glass atrium in the center. The building will have 12,000-sq. ft. of retail space at street level expected to house art galleries, complementing the existing Chelsea arts community.

Two New Residential Projects for N.Y.

Two new residential developments are underway in the New York suburbs - a planned community in Orange County and a Long Island assisted living facility.

Kajima Construction Services is on board as construction manager and general contractor to build a new independent senior living retirement residence for Manhattan-based Sterling Glen, a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. that operates senior living and retirement facilities across the metropolitan area. The 287,000-sq.-ft. facility will have three stories and a parking level below grade on 11 acres in Roslyn, N.Y.

The structure consists of precast beams and floors with reinforced masonry shear walls and a pile-supported foundation. The facility will have 158 units upon completion, slated for early 2006.

Meanwhile, an affiliate of LeylandAlliance LLC of Tuxedo, N.Y. and Tarragon Corporation of New York City is building Warwick Grove, a planned community of 215 residences across 130 acres in Warwick, N.Y., a community in Orange County. The project will create 154 detached single-family homes, 30 condominiums, and 31 townhouses. LeylandAlliance is serving as general contractor.

The community also will have a neighborhood center, pool, fitness center, and parks on a design by master plan architect Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company of Washington, D.C. The community, incorporating a "traditional neighborhood" design emphasizing classic architecture, will cater to "active adults" who are 55 and over, according to a release.

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