Forest City Ratner Chair & CEO Bruce Ratner this morning discussed his plans to renovate Nassau Coliseum, saying the revamped building is "going to be beautiful like the Barclays Center." Appearing on CNBC’s "Squawk Box," Ratner said the arena is “going to have a huge number of events” if his group wins the contract. Ratner: “The whole deal today is content, content, content. …That's been the strength of our Barclays Center, a combination of booking, good customer service and beautiful." Ratner was asked if he had concerns over encountering lack of "content" with the numerous venues in the New York area, including Barclays Center, MSG, the Meadowlands and Nassau Coliseum. But he noted only 5-10% of customers at Barclays Center “actually come from Long Island." Ratner noted there are "completely different demographics” on Long Island, and the “same kind of content we have at Barclays will be at Nassau, yet it's really a different audience." The renovation project is "all privately financed" and Ratner's group will be "giving the municipality money." Ratner: "It's ready to be done" ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 8/5).
