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Add the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre to the growing list of venues that the Nets parent company, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, will control -- yet another example of how Mikhail Prokhorov's business interests in New York are expanding, not contracting.
Billboard reports that Nets ownership has signed a long-term lease with LIU Brooklyn to renovate and operate the 2,800 capacity Brooklyn Paramount Theatre. The 49-year deal expands on an alliance first announced in January of last year, and will jumpstart a renovation project for the venue under the auspices of Paramount Events Center (PEC).
The new "events center" joins similar partnerships that control the Nets, Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum. Prokhorov owns all of the Nets and Barclays and a majority interest --85 percent-- in the Nassau rehab. The Coliseum will be home to the Long Island Nets once completed. Paramount will also be majority controlled by Prokhorov's interests.
Original renovation plans drawn up last year have been revamped, Billboard reports, so that the venue will have a flexible seating configuration that will increase capacity from around 1,500 to up to 2,800. Developers are also contemplating building a lounge in the lower level. The PEC will focus on booking emerging talent and is projecting 120 events per year, including music, comedy, boxing, and private programs for LIU students.