Plans to build the Islanders a new arena at Belmont Park are expected to take three years to come to fruition, according to a new comprehensive analysis by Newsday that was published on Monday. The time frame, according to the report, would put the opening of the building near the start of the 2021-22 NHL season.
The Newsday story was the first substantive look at an expected time frame for the new hockey venue, with Islanders ownership remaining rather vague about one. Co-owner Jon Ledecky has said multiply times that he hopes to complete the project as soon as possible, which he stated most recently during a spot on WFAN last Wednesday.
What is definite is that that the environmental review process will begin in March and will take 12 to 16 months to complete. The review will look at, in part, the impact the arena will have on traffic and public transit.
The Islanders will also be setting up a community advisory board during this time period. More from Newsday:
Meanwhile, as the environmental review is underway, ESD said its executives and representatives from the Islanders group will be engaging with the communities surrounding Belmont about the project through a community advisory board.
Leicht told the board the environmental review will likely finish in the spring of 2019, at which point ESD’s board of directors will vote to approve the Islanders’ group’s lease for the property. Once that happens, construction can begin.
The lease New York Arena Partners — the group consisting of the Islanders, Oak View Group and Sterling Project Developments — would be a 49-year lease with the state. The entire $1 billion project will be privately financed.
One the shovels are in the ground the project is expected to take 26 to 30 months to build, according to Newsday. And this is how Newsday projects the project to play out:
— The environmental review process begins in March and is completed in 12 months.
— Construction begins in March 2019. It takes 26 months to complete the arena, taking the timeline of completion May 2021. The hockey season begins in October.
By this projection the Islanders would need to find a temporary home for the next three years. An announcement regarding a temporary home is expect to be made in the near future.
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