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[IMGCAP(1)]PLAINVIEW, NY-The Lighthouse Development Group LLC has created the Lighthouse Foundation, an organization that will receive an initial endowment of $1 million from Charles Wang, owner of the New York Islanders and Dragons and RexCorp Realty. According to the Foundation, its mission is to nurture opportunities that strengthen the communities and institutions that surround the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the $2 billion Lighthouse Project here.
According to a statement, the Foundation seeks to create new opportunities for future generations of Long Islanders by supporting development of education and job creation programs with the goal of improving the region's quality of life. The group notes that it will actively participate in community events, arrange scholarships, create home ownership opportunities and work to create new career possibilities on Long Island, with local groups, schools, and businesses which call the surrounding communities their home.
[IMGCAP(2)]"It is very important to give back to the community in which we live and work," notes Wang in a prepared statement. "I have always believed in identifying programs that foster education and enhance the opportunities for young people to learn and grow--the Foundation will enable us to provide resources for those programs in a very localized way."
The foundation co-founder Scott Rechler, chairman and CEO of RexCorp notes that "the Lighthouse Project is about creating opportunities for our families and our businesses. This Foundation will support efforts in the surrounding communities with that same goal and leverage new opportunities created by this community transforming project. In order to create opportunities to fulfill the needs of the changing workforce of Nassau County, the Foundation will actively look to support groups which share this common goal.
The Lighthouse Project is the transformation of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site and surrounding area into a modern suburban center. The centerpiece will be a revitalized arena for the New York Islanders and New York Dragons, surrounded by residential neighborhoods, lifestyle retail and entertainment venues, a sports technology center, multi-purpose athletic complex, conference and exhibition facilities, a baseball stadium, and the first five-star hotel on Long Island.
The estimated $2-billion project is expected to generate almost $60 million of annual real estate tax revenue. An expected 16,000 construction jobs, thousands of permanent jobs and many new businesses will be created. Overall, the Lighthouse Project will add more than $200 million of incremental revenue over the next 25 years to the county and the state from the renovation of the Coliseum alone and keep the New York Islanders on Long Island for decades to come, according to a company statement.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
