Hempstead Town officials hold up Lighthouse project

THE VISION

In 2004, Charles Wang, after making a fortune in computer software and shifting to sports ownership with the Islanders and real estate development, unveiled a plan to reimagine and revitalize central Nassau. Wang offered a vision for a $3.8-billion new downtown on 150 acres, including the 77-acre, county-owned Coliseum site. He envisioned his legacy as a massive sports-technology, entertainment and residential complex crowned by a 60-story lighthouse containing a 500-room hotel and condos.

"There's a lot for everybody to do," he said. "Our kids can get jobs."

The first phase, Wang said, would be to renovate the Nassau Coliseum and build an athletic complex with two ice rinks, a basketball court and a health club. But the second phase garnered the most attention with its centerpiece: "The Great Lighthouse" - modeled on the ancient "Great Lighthouse" of Alexandria, Egypt, and twice the height of the county's tallest building.

In 2006, then-County Executive Thomas Suozzi chose Wang and partner Scott Rechler to redevelop the site, and the next year the developers applied to the Town of Hempstead for rezoning to create a planned development district.

OBSTACLES

The immense project polarized planners, politicians and residents. Some hailed it as a source of jobs and vitality. Others howled about the height and design of the tower and overall density as well as the likelihood of gridlock despite elaborate plans for upgrading mass transit. So the plans were scaled back, with The Great Lighthouse giving way to two 36-story towers.

"It is an area that could benefit from a more urbanized approach," said Lee Koppelman, director of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at Stony Brook University. "But there are legitimate concerns about traffic and overdensification."

PROGRESS

Hempstead officials have objected to the size of the Lighthouse, which has 2,300 residential units, 1 million square feet of office space and 500,000 square feet of restaurants and retail outlets. Last fall, Wang pushed the town to decide on the rezoning, and if the answer was no, to tell him what would be acceptable. The town halted its review when Wang declined to pay for additional studies the town sought because he wanted an answer whether the project would go forward.

With the project "bogged down, we have taken a proactive step" of hiring a planning firm to create a scaled-down version by this summer, Supervisor Kate Murray said. "We certainly hope that Wang and Rechler remain the contractor." But if there is no agreement, the town would try to get the county to pick different developers.

Michael Picker, president of Lighthouse Development Group, said, "We look forward to Supervisor Murray's vision and we're hopeful for the ability to bring the jobs and the tax money that the area so desperately needs."

The picture grew murkier last week when Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano announced he had been in talks with the Shinnecock Nation for a casino alongside a renovated Coliseum. He described an envisioned "entertainment-sports-resort," which would include a casino built by the tribe, as a "very real alternative" to the Lighthouse project.