Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Yes, both the New York Islanders and Brooklyn Nets seem playoffs-bound, which is definitely a boon for the Barclays Center, adding more games likely to draw larger crowds and more revenues. So yes, the 2018-2019 fiscal year promises to be better than 2017-18.

But the latter was a financial disaster, as documents show and Crain's New York Business reports today, in Barclays Center is sending the Islanders packing. Could it improve its fortunes?

The subheading is "Arenas overestimate revenue and understate expenses because demand is so fluid," which is surely true in part, but also because they have reason--aiming to convince bond buyers of financial stability--to project over-optimistic scenarios.

I'll have a longer analysis of financial results one of these days, but first, let's look at the Crain's article. "Since inception, they've underperformed," said Richard Donner, senior credit officer at Moody's. "We thought they'd eventuall…

It now seems a prescient warning, this October 2013 article from Beijing Review, China's only English language weekly, published by China International Publishing Group, which very much reflects establishment views.

Chinese real estate developers should be more cautious when trying to scoop up foreign property was the headline on the 10/28/13 article/column by Lan Xinzhen. It was actually a mixture of reportage and analysis, with the headline more provocative than even the analysis, much less the reporting.

It was keyed to the announcement that "China's real estate heavyweight Greenland Group [was] preparing to invest in a high-profile Atlantic Yards apartment project in Brooklyn, New York," with the company taking a 70 percent ownership stake.

At the point, the terms were not clear: soon, it seemed that Greenland had gotten a bargain or, at least, seller Forest City Ratner/Forest City Enterprises was taking a hit.

An ambitious, growing company

The article quoted Green…

The latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday, Feb. 18, was circulated at 4:40 pm Friday (lead time) by Empire State Development (ESD) after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners.

There are very few changes from the previous update, given that vertical construction is not quite ready, and most ongoing work is infrastructure or demolition. In fact, the only changes I noticed were not--as is supposedly required--marked in the document.

For example, near the intersection of Vanderbilt Avenue and Atlantic Avenue:
● East Portal construction acceleration will continue during this reporting period and include a night shift between the hours of 3:30pm and 11:59am, Monday through Saturday. Necessary light/dust/noise mitigation measures will be utilized. This night activity can be expected to continue for the next 4 weeks. Note that previously the night shift was Monday through Friday, not Saturday, and the work was previous…

The "Yards" thing, it's going around. First in Chicago, then in Richmond, Va.
Another ambitious mixed-use plan w/"Yards" + big promises.
Well worth a read @NextCityOrg@hideoutchicago assumed new identity 1996, same year @FreddysBar1 (since displaced by #AtlanticYards, then reestablished in Brooklyn) transformed from cop bar https://t.co/yqS71fkqEbhttps://t.co/BNVEbZlPlX — Norman Oder (@AYReport) February 14, 2019 From Richmond Business Sense, 2/14/19, Updated: Local developer proposes Coliseum redevelopment alternative dubbed ‘Navy Hill Yards’:
Dubbed Navy Hill Yards, Bilder’s project would call for rehabbing the recently shuttered Coliseum and adding onto the exterior with a new structure that would encircle it with residential, hotel or office uses. The proposal cites the Barclays Center in New York City as an example.

OK, this is a bit odd.

An announcement from the team:New York Islanders Announcement Regarding The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Following consultation with Governor Andrew Cuomo's office, the New York Islanders and BSE Global have announced that should the Islanders qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, any first round home playoff games will take place at NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Should the team qualify for further rounds of the playoffs, any home Islanders games will take place at Barclays Center, reflecting that the Nassau Coliseum does not qualify as an NHL major league facility.
This agreement has been approved by the NHL, with the understanding that the scheduling of games will be in accordance with usual League practices. So why might that be? Yes, Barclays has more capacity and more luxury suites, but the Coliseum has, in general, drawn more fans, as it's closer to the fan base. But a playoff game should sell out. And maybe there's an…

It's worth remembering this 2/14/19 Long Island Herald article by Ronny Reyes, Belmont LIRR station plans are still unclear:
Last January, the Herald printed a two-part series on the dilapidated Long Island Rail Road Station at Belmont, and the need for a new, year-round station in the proposed Belmont arena project. More than a year later, the prospect for a full-time station at Belmont is still up in the air, despite the insistence of the arena developers and the Islanders that construction of the arena would begin in the spring.
While Empire State Development officials announced that they had secured two trains for events at the arena, which would run from Jamaica to Belmont, local residents and officials have said the service would fall far short of the promised full-time station that Gov. Andrew Cuomo touted when he initially announced the arena project in 2017. Indeed, a lot of people would be driving:
Other residents and local elected officials said they had hoped train serv…

Sure, there was some chatter yesterday about Atlantic Yards in the wake of Amazon's surprising decision--I and others would have bet on renegotiations--to pull out of plans to build a campus in Long Island City.
I'm surprised too... but Amazon hadn't bought a money-losing basketball team it had to move to Brooklyn or a deal it had to revise post-recession (or purportedly blighted land to be acquired via eminent domain) — Norman Oder (@AYReport) February 14, 2019That was former Forest City Ratner executive Ashley Cotton, who's still working on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park government relations (I think) as an executive at L&L MAG.

Amazon had invested relatively little in Long Island City. Not only did it not have a team it had to move, it hadn't started buying land, sometimes at inflated prices and with money borrowed at high interest rates. So it had much less pressure to close the deal.

Thing is: had Amazon gone ahead with its campus, it likely could have--as sho…

Just six weeks after the 1/22/19 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting--my coverage--the next one is coming on Tuesday, March 5 at 6 pm:
Shirley A. Chisholm State Office Building
55 Hanson Place
1st Floor Conference Room
Brooklyn, NY 11217 Interested parties can send project-related questions, concerns, and suggested agenda items to atlanticyards@esd.ny.gov. Perhaps we'll learn some more about plans to start building two towers (B15, B4) in the next months. 
Or maybe even about plans for a giant complex at Site 5 across Flatbush Avenue from the Barclays Center, given a court decision (under appeal) requiring the project developer to provide space to retailer P.C. Richard in a future building.
The lingering irony
The irony for project watchers is that, while the bi-monthly meetings are very much on schedule, the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), supposed to meet quarterly, has not met for nearly 11 months, and the meeting scheduled for yesterda…