Hempstead-based Hofstra University is eying the development of a “college town” on approximately 15 acres of its campus property.
Susan Poser, president of Hofstra, outlined the idea while delivering the State of the University address on Wednesday at the campus’ John Cranford Adams Playhouse.
The idea of a college town on campus comes just five months after the Las Vegas Sands said it would no longer pursue developing a $5 billion casino complex on the nearby Nassau Coliseum.
“We’re very pleased that there will not be a massive casino development across the street from Hofstra, due to the withdrawal of the Las Vegas Sands casino proposal,” Poser said during her address. “Hofstra stood firmly against this project for years, including winning a lawsuit and subsequent skirmishes.”
Hofstra was against the proposed casino, stating that the Nassau Hub was an inappropriate location for a casino, among other reasons.
Now, Poser said, the university can “look ahead with hope and expectation that a more community-minded and sustainable development will be built in the Nassau Coliseum, to which we would be excited to contribute,” she said. “In fact, we have begun to explore the idea of such a development on our own land.
“The idea is to build a new lacrosse stadium and associated support facilities on the north side of campus, closer to the Mack Arena and the rest of Hofstra athletics facilities,” she said. “And then take down the stadium and use that 15 or so acres of property owned by Hofstra to develop a mixed-use, walkable area with the amenities of a small village.”
An advisory panel from the Urban Land Institute visited the campus earlier this month, and analyzed “the feasibility of this idea, touring the site and meeting with internal and external constituencies,” Poser said.
“They provided very interesting short-term and long-term possibilities, and we will keep you posted as this develops.”
After spending hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to build a $5 billion casino resort on about 70 acres at the Nassau Coliseum, Las Vegas Sands said in April it would no longer pursue the project. While the organization has said it would develop the property in other ways, plans remain in flux.
