Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Recently we've been reminded of lingering clauses in official Atlantic Yards documents that seem to have been forgotten by the government officials required to enforce them, such as the 5/12/22 deadline to build the Urban Room, with a potential $10 million penalty for delay--unless it's waved away by a renegotiation and amendment. Another is a requirement I  wrote  about in November 2019: how developer Greeenland Forest City Partners (GFCP) faced a 5/12/20 deadline—ten years after the project  Effective Date, 5/12/10 —to start construction at Site 5, longtime home of the big-box stores Modell's (now closed) and P.C. Richard. If not, the developer had to either pay New York City for its retained development rights or give up those rights, according to a document known as the Atlantic Yards City Participation Agreement. Construction, of course, has not started at Site 5; the developer has proposed--but not yet started--a plan to move most of the bulk of the unbuilt B1 tower

In a report last week, How Many Units of Affordable Housing Were Built or Are Underway Through the 421-a Affordable New York Tax Exemption Program?  (also at bottom), the NYC Independent Budget Office confirmed what's been widely believed: the most recent iteration of the 421-a tax break has disproprotionately incentivized not-so-affordable income-targeted housing, serving the middle-class. The IBO notes: Most affordable units created under Affordable New York were part of projects where the developer received no additional public subsidies. But about 21 percent of units, spanning 23 buildings, not only received the 421-a exemption, but also subsidies in the form of city capital funds, loans, tax credits, grants, or public land. These were overwhelmingly the units serving the lowest income bands. In fact, all of the units for extremely low-income households also received other subsidies; almost half of the units for very low-income and more than a third of those for lowincome house

Just three years after snagging superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a player-driven surprise (which, um, also brought the duo's over-the-hill chum, DeAndre Jordan), the Brooklyn Nets are in turmoil, with Durant requesting a trade and Irving, who couldn't reach agreement on a contract extension, expected to be traded, too. If original Atlantic Yards developer (and arena builder/Nets owner) Bruce Ratner once said there were "black swans" in everything, and "we will figure it out," his record was mixed.  He was able to rescue the arena design after downsizing from Frank Gehry's original template, by hiring SHoP to wrap the EllerbeBecket design in pre-rusted metal, but he wasn't able to launch a successful, money-saving modular construction business--and had to sell the project at a loss, after selling the Nets/arena company to Mikhail Prokhorov, who turned out to be the big winner so far. Alibaba billionaire Joe Tsai, bought the team/arena comp

Now Brett Yormark will be marketing college sports, notably football. The news first surfaced in a 6/27/22 Sports Illustrated article,  Sources: Big 12 Aiming to Hire Roc Nation Executive Brett Yormark as Next Commissioner : Brett Yormark, the COO of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, is finalizing a deal to be the new leader of the Power 5 league, sources tell Sports Illustrated, a stunning move that brings yet another outsider into college sports’ most exclusive and powerful group. Yormark, 55, has spent the last three years at Roc Nation, originally as co-CEO with twin brother Michael.... In the Big 12, Yormark has big shoes to fill. He replaces a legendary figure in college athletics in Bob Bowlsby, and he must navigate a rapidly changing world in a conference dealing with incredible change itself. Its two richest members, Texas and Oklahoma, are bound for the SEC in 2025. Their exit timing and fee are essential issues on the new commissioner’s to-do list, as well as renegotiating the league’s me

It's a typically slow July for the Barclays Center, wtih only six ticketed events, including four WNBA New York Liberty games, plus a comedy show (with Chris Rock and Kevin Hart) and a boxing card. There are no events until July 14, which presumably allows the arena operators to make progress in revamping the plaza, which is currently truncated. July 2019 comparison For July 2019 , the last comparable month pre-pandemic, the arena had only four ticketed events, plus three in-house events--auditions for the Brooklynettes cheerleaders and the Team Hype Dance Team--and two outdoor public events, Summer Sessions at the arena plaza.  (This month, there are no private or in-house events, or they're just not being announced.)

The first large new building along Atlantic Avenue, albeit not within Community District 8, is set to open soon, and the affordable units have entered the city's Housing Connect lottery system , with the deadline closing next week. The 29-story building (plus a four-story addition) previously known as 809 Atlantic Ave. or 550 Clinton Ave. is being marketed as 539 Vanderbilt Ave. for the affordable units). For the market-rate units, the address is 545 Vanderbilt Ave. and it's being marketed as The Axel , though no market-rate units are yet available. (The lowest price category for inquiries is $2,000-$3,000. The building promises "over 30,000 square feet of unrivaled amenities.") That suggestes the housing lottery started earlier than, say, with the more recent Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park buildings, as market-rate tenants at 662 Pacific St. and 18 Sixth Ave. moved in first. Affordable configuration Looking east from Sixth Ave., The Axel center-left The Axel contains 26

Just a week after downgrading Greenland Holding Group (aka Greenland Holdings) to SD (Selective Default), ratings agency Standard & Poor's has upgraded the Shanghai-based conglomerate three notches to CCC-, but said the outlook remained negative. Greenland is the parent of Greenland USA, which owns nearly all of Greenland Forest City Partners, the master developer of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, and has funding responsibility for nearly all going forward. And default might --though that's unclear--stall the project. In a 6/29/22 announcement , S&P based the upgrade on Greenland's completion of a "distressed maturity extension," which means the company has one more year, until 6/25/23, to pay back $500 million in bonds. Risks remain But it warned that the company still "faces high repayment risk," given general lack of available cash and other debt due this year. CCC- is an "extremely speculative" low grade of "junk" bonds, d