Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

So, remember FullStack Modular, the company that succeeded took over the ill-fated factory business-- FC+S Modular, then FC Modular--set up to build modules for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, which, after problems in building the B2 (461 Dean) project, original project developer Forest City ultimately sold to its former executive Roger Krulak? (Note: the company was originally called Full Stack Modular, but at some point became FullStack Modular.) As I observed  in June 2017, FullStack's announcement of a $6 million investment struck me as substantial but also not huge in terms of being used to "scale production" at the modular factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  Well, they've since found greener pastures, relocating in 2023 to just outside New Haven, Conn., and last year establishing another factory outside Los Angeles, as described below. The projects they describe conform to Krulak's October 2016  prediction  (in FastCo.Design) that they wouldn't aim as tall...

Weekly Digest: A Switcheroo in Philly, Drilling Down on Affordable Housing Numbers ( link ) Are arena negotiations just about leverage? Also, low-income rents (and qualifying incomes) in Brooklyn have risen. The Brooklyn Nets go promotional.

In October 2023, I  reported  on an upcoming ice rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO, a new project from BSE Global, parent of Barclays Center operating company and the Brooklyn Nets. Glide Brooklyn would be operated in partnership with the sports management company IMG. Well, that lasted a season.  It's unclear whether Brooklyn Bridge Park was frustrated or whether the partners didn't think it was worth it, but Brooklyn Bridge Park, working with an operator, is now running the rink itself. "Same rink size and layout – lower cost to skate,"  said  BBP in a tweet.   Details Indeed, Glide Brooklyn last year set adult admission as $15 during off-peak hours and $25 during peak hours  (Friday-Sunday, and holidays), while Roebling Rink--on Emily Warren Roebling Plaza--charges $10.By the way, tickets to skate at Rockefeller Center start at $21 . Glide offered daily discounted tickets--fewer than 800 per week--to New York City residents, while Roebling Rink...

You know the Brooklyn Nets are struggling. They're losing games ( "worst defeat in franchise history" ) and tanking, aiming to get a better chance in the loaded 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, which could reset the franchise with new talent, and make it a lure for free agents.  (As columnist Steve Lichtenstein put it,  Nets Mid-Term Grades Won’t Be Displayed Proudly .) So they're offering various promotions to fill the seats, such as no fees on single-game tickets, or a free ticket with a coat donation. In their three previous home games, the announced attendance was: Jan. 4:  Philadelphia 76ers , 17,926 Jan 6: Indiana Pacers , 16,088 Jan. 8: Detroit Pistons , 16,098 Note that attendance doesn't mean gate count, nor does it mean tickets sold. It means tickets distributed. The Barclays Center official holds 17,732 for basketball, so exceeding that means standing room. The team is averaging 17,480 at home as of now, according to ESPN , but the trend line--at least against l...

Is the deal with Related Companies, as part of a joint venture with the U.S. Immigration Fund and the Fortress Investment Group, to take over the six tower sites over the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, already done? Well, that's one interpretation of Related's November/December 2024 lobbying report , which excludes mention of Atlantic Yards. (Another is that the report has a lapse.) As I reported in November, Related amped up engagement in September and October, indicating that it not only lobbied four executives at Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, it also lobbied New York City Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer.  Is Related asking the city for housing subsidies? As I wrote, it's hard to imagine Related would enter the project without having negotiated, at least partly, the scale of the project, the affordable housing obligation (and deadlines), and more. After all, longtime master developer Greenland USA,...

How Many AtlanticYards Apartments Were Rented to Households Earning Under $50,000? ( link ) Well, far more than suggested in an otherwise useful table from BrooklynSpeaks Still, middle-income units are vastly over-represented.

Barely a month after the Philadelphia City Council approved, 12-5, legislation to allow the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers to build a new downtown arena (dubbed 76Place) in Market East, and more than two years after debates, protests, studies, public hearings, and more occupied a good deal of civic energies, came  Sixers’ shocking arena pivot , as the Philadelphia Inquirer put it this morning. Once gaining leverage over their landlord, Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Wells Fargo Arena and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, the 76ers cut a deal with Comcast to build a new arena at that South Philadelphia sports complex. Details are expected today. Screenshot from 76Place "Now that the Sixers arena is dead after they used city officials as pawns in a landlord-tenant dispute and completely monopolized our already insane local politics for 2 years, Comcast can at least build their very real biomedical lab proposal at the Fashion District site now," local Chris Olley tweeted , ref...

Weekly Digest: Chilling Winds, and a Busy Forecast for 2025 ( link ) No, there really wasn't a "proper wind analysis." Yes, this year could be acceleration time for the project.