Wang's Plainview property, considered for casino, selling to home builder
New York Islanders owner Charles Wang is in contract to sell his 144 acres of Plainview property to home builder Michael Dubb, of The Beechwood Organization, Dubb confirmed Wednesday.
A week ago, Newsday reported that the Shinnecock Indian Nation was considering the Plainview land as a potential casino site. Dubb said he and Wang have been in talks for several months, adding that he was aware that the Shinnecocks were also on Wang's radar screen.
"To Charles' credit, he had options," Dubb said. "He possibly could have made a deal with the Shinnecocks but I think he wanted to do what he viewed as a more responsible use for the property."
Michael Picker, who oversees Wang's real estate holdings, was not immediately available for comment.
Dubb said he hopes to build a "lifestyle community" similar to the Meadowbrook Pointe project he built in Westbury. While that project is only for people 50 and older, Dubb said he hopes the Plainview project would be for a mix of ages and housing types.
But while Dubb said he would prefer to build housing at the site, he would not rule out any other possibilities - including a casino.
"My first desire is to create a lifestyle community that will be an asset to the neighborhood - and an asset to Nassau County," Dubb said. "In the event we can't succeed at that, we would consider all other options."
But building at Plainview has been a challenge in the past. In 2003, Wang proposed an extensive mixed-use development there, to be called Old Plainview, but four years later he pulled the project amid community objections.
Dubb said he hopes to hold meetings with civic leaders and the community before even designing the project, in an effort to avoid the same fate.
"I'm really not making any plans or decisions until I have input from the community stakeholders," he added.
But Dubb said he did hope to keep the project simpler, without the many different uses, such as a hotel, shops and office space, that Wang had originally proposed.
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