Chinese investors plan community center

A major version of New York City's Chinatown on Long Island may be a bit of a stretch, but Long Island business and political leaders are talking to their Chinese counterparts on the Island about the possibility of building a community center in Nassau or Suffolk counties.

With the Island's Asian population soaring - rising to 7.2 percent from 4.7 percent in Nassau in the past decade and to 3.4 percent from 2.4 percent in Suffolk in the same period - Asian business leaders said they thought the time was right to consider a center here.

About 40 Asian business executives met recently in the Melville law office of Morton Weber, a real-estate and zoning attorney.

Lawrence Liu, a developer and leader of a Chinese investor group, said they want to buy a 40-acre site between Exits 37 and 48 (between Searingtown and Plainview) of the Long Island Expressway. Liu said the proposed center would include a supermarket featuring Asian products, retail stores and professional offices on a second floor.

"It's definitely time for us to develop a center here," said Liu. He noted that the group is looking for vacant property and hopes to begin building this year.

Weber said he provided the executives with four or five possible sites. He said he hopes to begin "meaningful negotiations" on a site in the first quarter of this year. "They have the money to go forward," Weber added.

He also said that aside from the growing Asian population, the Island's schools attracted the group. In a recent survey by Newsweek, six Long Island high schools were ranked among the top 100 public schools in the country and the top 10 in the state.

Pat Foye, a deputy Nassau County executive for economic development, who was at the meeting, said private investment on Long Island "will be a vital source to fuel the Island's growth. The Chinese investor group assembled by the Weber law firm was an important opportunity for the counties to continue accessing capital for job creation and investment."