Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

June 29, 2012

Dan Keefe, (518) 486-1868

New York State Parks and Trump on the Ocean LLC Announce Agreement on Jones Beach Boardwalk Restaurant and Catering Facility

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) and The Trump Organization today announced they have reached agreement to advance construction of a world class restaurant and catering facility at Jones Beach State Park.

Under the terms of the agreement, Trump on the Ocean LLC will build and operate a facility with a foot-print of 38,560 square feet at the Central Mall boardwalk at Jones Beach. The facility includes a public restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating accommodating more than 400 people, and catering areas that can accommodate up to 1,250 guests. Trump on the Ocean LLC will invest more than $24 million in private funds to develop the facility. No state funding is being provided. The project will create construction jobs and once operating, the restaurant and catering facility will employ several hundred permanent workers. As part of the agreement, Trump on the Ocean LLC, OPRHP, and the Department of State will terminate lawsuits initiated after disagreements arose among the parties relating to the original building design proposed under the lease executed in 2006 for this project.

Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Rose Harvey said, "We've broken the logjam and ended the lawsuits that have stalled this project for five years. The Trump on the Ocean LLC project will create hundreds of jobs, provide a boost for Long Island's economy, and bring back a much-needed amenity to Jones Beach State Park. And with the lawsuits behind us, OPRHP can focus on other necessary steps to revitalize this magnificent park for its seven million annual visitors."

Donald Trump said, "This is a settlement that is good for everybody, especially the State of New York, and will lead to the creation of the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the country. A facility that the late great Robert Moses would have been proud of. Aside from the magnificence of the building itself, and of equal importance, will be the tremendous number of jobs created."

The Trump on the Ocean LLC building design will have a downsized basement (approximately 14,000 square feet) for storage and minor equipment only, and will comply with the State Building Code. The exterior will include stone and brick features that complement Jones Beach State Park's historic park buildings built in the 1930s.

As part of the agreement, OPRHP and Trump on the Ocean LLC will enter into a new forty-year lease for construction and operation of the facility. The 2012 Lease retains all of the financial and substantive terms of the lease executed in 2006, but resets the start date to 2012. Trump on the Ocean LLC will make a yearly $200,000 base rent payment to OPRHP, increased annually by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Over forty years, rent payments to State Parks will total approximately $13 million (including CPI adjustments). In addition, Trump on the Ocean LLC will pay a portion of its annual gross receipts to OPRHP, totaling tens of millions of additional payments over forty years. All rent payments received by OPRHP will be used to maintain and improve Jones Beach and other state parks.

OPRHP will update environmental reviews to reflect the revised building design, after which OPRHP and Trump on the Ocean LLC will formally execute the new forty-year lease. The new lease will require approval by the Office of the State Comptroller.

Jones Beach State Park has always had a restaurant on the boardwalk, at the site that the facility will be built. The first restaurant was built in the 1930s, at the time the park was created. The original restaurant burned down in the 1960s. It was replaced with a second restaurant built by OPRHP which operated for four decades until structural failures required it be demolished. For many years, the site has been empty, fenced off to the public. Construction and operation of the facility will return the site to public use.

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