Bidders to the starting gate.
New York State will release the long awaited request For proposal land at Belmont Park in Elmont as early as Monday, according to a report from Newsday. The impending RFP will be the third the state has put out for the site and the Islanders are expected to bid to develop a hockey arena on the land.
The news is just the start of what will be a thorough process for New York State to sift through potential bidders and select a bid that best fits the site. Newsday reporter and editorial board member Randi Marshall provided some more insight on twitter on how the timeline that could play out once the RFP is released.
Developers and others will likely have around three months to respond. Then ESD evaluates responses, and hopefully makes decision.
— Randi Marshall (@randimarshall) July 27, 2017
My guess is it will say "sports and entertainment venues" among the possibilities – or something like that – which would include an arena.
— Randi Marshall (@randimarshall) July 27, 2017
Time will tell. Could be a real variety of responses. Last time around, several large developers bid. Not sure they will again.
— Randi Marshall (@randimarshall) July 27, 2017
The release of an RFP will be a welcomed sign from observers who are hoping the Islanders can build a hockey specific arena on the site, but it will be far from a given that the Islanders bid will be selected by the state. And as Marshall pointed out, there will be a process that will have to play, so the RFP will be the beginning rather than the end of this latest arena saga for the franchise.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
