Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

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.

The publication YIMBY’s annual year-end countdown of the 31 tallest buildings under construction in New York include six around Downtown Brooklyn. If the plans for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park come to fruition as currently approved (top image below), perhaps only the B7 tower, approved at 460 feet, would make YIMBY's 2024 list. However, if the project proceeds under plans floated in 2021 and 2023 several would make the list; the 910-foot tower (of two) at Site 5 would surely enter the city's Top Ten, given that in 2024 it would've placed sixth. Also, B9, B6, and B7 likely would make the list, again if they are approved as once proposed. Presumably the expected incoming joint venture involving Related Companies will make its own proposals. From YIMBY At #3 is The Brooklyn Tower , a 1,066-foot residential supertall skyscraper at 9 DeKalb Avenue, at Flatbush Avenue: the 93-story structure stands as the tallest structure in the outer boroughs and yields 550 residential units i...

Photos: Norman Oder OK, we (um, BSE Global) really do belong here. That tricky "You Belong Here/We Belong Here" signage outside Barclays Center was unveiled Oct. 23, 2021 for at least three years, as I  reported . It's not leaving, though the documentation apparently was a bit late, according to an explanation I got from Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. The explanation: ESD, BALDC, the MTA and the NBA have consented to an extension of the "You Belong Here" art exhibition at Barclays Center through October 23, 2026. The parties are currently finalizing the necessary documentation reflecting the consent to the extension. In case you're wondering, beyond the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and NBA (National Basketball Association), BALDC refers to the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation, the ESD alter ego that actually owns the site but then leases it to the arena operator for essenti...

A recent search on the name Suma Mandel, a board member--at least as of 2023--of the Pacific Park Conservancy led me to an article she co-authored last June for Vital City,  Governance in the Time of Congestion . The article was stirred by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's unilateral decision--since modified--to direct the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to pause congestion pricing, but the subheading, "Who do public authorities serve — the public or the politicians who appoint their boards?" is eternally relevant to observers of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. As the authors write: Even to the casual observer, when the governor announced the pause, it was obvious that the MTA leaders were mere bystanders, watching a major policy U-turn and realizing it would create a major funding gap in the agency’s capital program...  Some board members made reference to their fiduciary and legal obligations, asserting that they could not be “directed” by the governor. Yet [MTA Chair and...

Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park in 2025: Acceleration Time? (Related Enters, Project Supersized?)  [ here's the Substack link ] Will "community engagement" affect scale, affordability? Will BSE Global pay for the plaza? BSE's Brooklyn "ecosystem" should swell. What's the surprise?

It's another cold, windy day today, so windy there's a gale warning, with winds up to 19 mph and gusts up to 39 mph in Brooklyn. Approaching Dean St. and Sixth Ave. Not much variety So it's likely to be another brutally cold and windy day around certain portions of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project.  After all, as longtime Brooklynites know, the area has its risks: in 2003, the New York Times suggested that then-solitary Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, aka One Hanson Place, might be the coldest and windiest place in the city, partly due to its location and partly due to its solo status. It's no longer the sole tall building in the area, but others nearby are channeling wind gusts. On Jan. 4, resident Rodrigo Solé  asked , "Do you know if proper wind analysis was conducted for AY development? The wind tunnel that runs on 6th Ave from Atlantic onto Flatbush Av makes street life unbearable. There’s a lack of mitigation elements such as proper bldng setbacks /...