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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

What could $20 million buy? Apparently a smaller plot in Sheepshead Bay

Forest City Ratner reportedly wants to pay just $20 million to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the portion of the Vanderbilt Yard it needs to build the Atlantic Yards arena. It initially promised to pay $100 million for the whole railyard. This series attempts to add some context.

In November 2007, according to the Real Deal:
White Plains-based developer Arcadia Realty Trust bought a two-acre site in Sheepshead Bay last November for $20 million with plans to build a mixed-use project with 300,000 square feet of retail space.

More development at AY site

Meanwhile, the 2.27-acre railyard segment (Block 1119, Lot 7) would seem to occupy at least 40% of the arena block--at least the of the arena block would seem to be at least 40%--at least the part east of 5th Avenue. 

And the arena would be some 800,000 square feet, with towers and retail on the arena block eventually totaling 1.5 million square feet--the smallest amount that could be built without penalty, according to the City Funding Agreement.

Is this "great piece of real estate," to quote Forest City Enterprises CEO Chuck Ratner, really worth less per acre than a couple of acres in Sheepshead Bay where a much smaller project is destined?

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