Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov "has purchased a controlling stake in the company that is redeveloping the Nassau Coliseum and building an adjacent retail and entertainment complex," according to Robert Brodsky of NEWSDAY. Prokhorov's Onexim Sports & Entertainment on Friday said that the company will assume 85% ownership of the Nassau Events Center, the entity created by Forest City Ratner Exec Chair Bruce Ratner "to run the arena." Forest City Chief of Staff & Senior VP/External Affairs Ashley Cotton said that Ratner "maintain a 15% ownership stake in NEC and "will remain the lead developer on the Coliseum project, along with Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark." Ratner and Yormark "would continue to manage the arena with Onexim after it reopens." Nassau County "will continue to own the arena." Cotton said that Onexim "will maintain Ratner's vision for the property and will abide by the terms of the lease agreement with the county." That deal "calls for Nassau Events to pay the county more than" $500M in rent and sales taxes "over the course of the 34-year lease." Experts said that it is "unclear whether the change of ownership could lead to changes in the project" (NEWSDAY, 10/31).
