Las Vegas Sands executives have yet to finalize a deal with a new company to take over their proposal to build a casino-resort at the Nassau Coliseum site, even as they seek more land-use approvals and the deadline to apply for a state gaming license is approaching.
“These discussions are still ongoing and the company is hopeful that a deal can still be reached,” Daniel Baker, an attorney representing Sands, said Tuesday at a Town of Hempstead zoning board hearing. “However the company also recognizes that there is little time left before applications are due to the state on June 27 and it may not be possible.”
The Nevada-based company — which announced about a month ago that it had dropped its bid to operate a commercial casino in New York — is actively pursuing the rezoning of the 72-acre site and adjacent Marriott Hotel property in Uniondale.
If approved by Town of Hempstead officials, the Mitchel Field Integrated Resort District would permit gambling and a 280-foot-tall hotel, initially intended for the $7.6 billion casino, luxury hotel, spa, retail, restaurants and open space Sands pitched to Nassau officials two years ago.
Sands executives said a month ago they are seeking a third party to replace them in the competitive and lucrative application process for one of three state gaming licenses expected to be granted by the end of the year.
At the time, Chris Boyle, spokesman for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who brokered the deal with Sands CEO Robert Goldstein, told Newsday there was “strong interest” from other casino companies looking to replace Sands at the Coliseum.
Sands and supporters, including construction unions and business groups, told Hempstead Town officials that rezoning the property is essential to attract any large-scale development that would bring jobs and meaningful economic stimulus to the center of the county. Local residents who spoke out in opposition object to a casino at the site and are asking for the zoning restrictions that have been in place for decades to remain, preventing the project from moving forward.
Company officials said securing the rezoning of the property benefits any development, regardless of a license to operate a casino.
“Nassau County and Town of Hempstead residents have made clear they want and deserve a transformational project at the site of the Coliseum,” Michael Levoff, senior vice president at Sands, said in a statement to Newsday. “No matter if that development includes a casino or not, putting new zoning in place that moves the site closer to redevelopment is an essential step toward realizing a beneficial project.”
John Durso, President of the Long Island Federation of Labor, representing about 300,000 union members, said updating the zoning for the site is crucial and long-anticipated.
“We need to move this site forward, we need to update the zoning. We are talking about jobs — good union jobs — work, careers, workforce development,” said Durso, among dozens who turned out at Hempstead Town Hall for public comment on the rezoning. “We have worked for decades to try to keep our young people here and this represents an opportunity. That’s what it is about. A future here on Long Island.”
Garden City Mayor Ed Finneran, however, noted that village trustees for a fourth time recently voted unanimously to oppose the project.
“We are not against unions, we are not against good jobs. We are against changing the character of our community,” Finneran said. “If you’re considering this zoning change, who is the sponsor? With the Sands abandoning this opportunity, why are we here today?”
Sands holds a 42-year operating lease and is nearing the end of a county-led, state-mandated environmental review process to gain a 99-year development lease.
Boyle said in late April that county officials would “crystallize within the next 30 days whether or not to entertain a casino component or develop the site without. In either event there will be an exciting new development that will create jobs and positive economic activity.”
Boyle on Tuesday did not reply to Newsday’s requests for comment.
Last week, the Nassau County legislature unanimously voted to release a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project, which includes more than 28,000 pages of studies on how the resort would affect traffic, water usage, drainage and noise and light pollution as well as mitigation efforts.
Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.
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