Long Island developer Ed Blumenfeld, who "missed becoming a finalist to overhaul the Nassau Coliseum, has joined" Forest City Ratner Chair & CEO Bruce Ratner to "compete with the Madison Square Garden Co. for the multimillion-dollar project," according to Robert Brodsky of NEWSDAY. Ratner yesterday said that Blumenfeld would "help develop the project's retail and restaurant components." Ratner said that Blumenfeld has "decades of experience with Long Island development and would identify local tenants for the project and help navigate the community review process." Ratner: "Ed had a great proposal. We think we have a great proposal. But we think ours is the one we should come together on." Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark has had "preliminary conversations with the Big Ten and the Pac-12 about bringing basketball games to the Coliseum in Uniondale and is also negotiating to bring a preseason Atlantic 10 basketball tournament to the reconfigured arena." Current Coliseum operator SMG, a partner on Blumenfeld's original bid, "will not play a role in Ratner's project" (NEWSDAY, 7/18).
KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said of the ongoing struggle to finish building American Dream Meadowlands, "I have personally spent days and days and days negotiating with these parties. At this point -- I've said this before publicly -- I think the [NFL Giants and Jets] are being unreasonable." Christie again acknowledged that the project "would not be fully completed in time for the Feb. 2, 2014 Super Bowl" at MetLife Stadium. Christie -- "rather than the developers themselves -- has stuck with a mantra of 'but some parts could be open'" (NORTHJERSEY.com, 7/17).
BORN TO LEED: In N.Y., Irina Ivanova noted Barclays Center received a "silver LEED rating in recognition of eco-friendly features, from the Cor-Ten steel framework shading its sides to the low-flow bathroom fixtures that help save 2 million gallons of water a year." Another green feature: "91% of all the wood in the building -- including the Nets' basketball court -- is certified sustainable" (CRAINSNEWYORK.com, 7/14).
