Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Less than two months ago, on 8/4/22, I noted that the plunging stock price for Shanghai-based Greenland Holdings Group (aka Greenland Holding Group), the parent of the main Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park developer, Greenland USA. That meant the 2019 advice to sell Greenland short was wide. As I wrote, from my search, it was 6.17 renminbi (aka yuan) as of 8/23/19, down from 7.25 a month earlier . It reached 7.24 in July 2020, but has since plunged. Two months ago, it closed at 3.02, down from 3.78 two months earlier. Today, it's at 2.73, a tick over the new low (2.72) set for the past year. Both rising interest rates and a 14-year low for the yuan against the dollar make borrowing more difficult, and Greenland already has  significant debts . So those likely influence a company to be more conservative, not more liberal, on spending for projects like Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park with a payoff many years away. Five-year trend. Screenshot via  Google Finance . One-day trend, via Google F

Well, the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) was right about finishing water main work. "We are aiming to complete our work on the south side of Atlantic [Avenue] by Monday," the DDC said  last week, after residents complained about constricted eastbound lanes, just east of Sixth Avenue/South Portland Avenue. As shown in the photo at right, which I took yesterday, the equipment was gone, and traffic flowed smoothly.  That means--as far as I can tell--that there's no barrier, beyond an expected permit from the Long Island Rail Road, for the developers of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park to move forward with long-promised work on a platform over the first block (of two) of the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard. "We were required to hold off on erecting the construction fence on Atlantic Avenue until DDC was able to complete their work, which we're hopeful will be happening in the next few weeks," Scott Solish of Greenland USA said at a meeting 9/20/

In my essay yesterday in CommonEdge,  In Honoring Philanthropists with the Onassis Medal, the MAS Forgets Its Crusade Against Supertalls , I criticized the Municipal Art Society for honoring Alibaba billionaire (and Brooklyn Nets/arena company owner) Joe Tsai and his wife Clara Wu Tsai, given that they bought apartments in the type of tower the MAS opposes. Another criticism regards the original purposes of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal,  established  to “honor individuals and organizations that have made an extraordinary impact on the quality of New York’s built environment."  Today, it's also “awarded annually to individuals who, through vision, leadership, and philanthropy, have made an extraordinary contribution to New York City.” Tsai hasn't done much regarding the built environment, but, as I pointed out, the arena company, now owned by Tsai, has a  dismal record  of providing working  escalators  and elevators to the transit entrance below. And the record is

Joe Tsai, the Alibaba billionaire who owns the Brooklyn Nets, the Barclays Center operating company and more, has become a heavyweight in philanthropy with his wife, Clara Wu Tsai. So the venerable Municipal Art Society (MAS) is giving them the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, its highest honor. As I write at CommonEdge, I think that's a dubious decision, since the Tsais have invested in the kind of "supertall" tower that MAS has crusaded against:  In Honoring Philanthropists with the Onassis Medal, the MAS Forgets Its Crusade Against Supertalls . I have other arguments, so click through  to the essay . Illustration combines MAS report with excerpts from Onassis Medal announcement. The  arrow (from announcement) points to 220 CPS. I'll add some more details on the real estate below. Like an NBA team? The Tsais’ reported purchases total $345.5 million in a “supertall” that’s perhaps Manhattan’s most prestigious building. “NBA teams are not going to lose asset value,”

From meeting presentation I wrote 9/21/22 that, according to developer Greenland USA, city water main work on Atlantic Avenue between Sixth and Carlton avenues had delayed long-promised work on the platform over the first of two blocks of the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, "We were required to hold off on erecting the construction fence on Atlantic Avenue until [Department of Design and Construction] was able to complete their work, which we're hopeful will be happening in the next few weeks," said Solish. As I wrote, that seemed like a lapse not to notice--and not to tell the public about the delay. A "traffic mess" One resident tweeted  the next day about "a complete traffic mess" asked how long it would take. At right is a photo showing the constricted avenue, taken Sept. 22, looking east from Sixth Avenue. "We are aiming to complete our work on the south side of Atlantic by Monday," the DDC responded on Twitter. "However, there may be

More than a week ago, residents noticed debris in a little-used top-floor stairwell at 535 Carlton Ave.--the "100% affordable' building that opened in 2017 in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park--that suggested that someone had been living there for at least several days. As shown in the tweet excerpted at right, resident Laurie Schoeman, noting that homelessness was at a "crisis point," aimed to alert local media as well as Council Member Crystal Hudson. Schoeman told me that Hudson contacted the Department of Homeless Services, but it was apparently out of their jurisdiction. (I queried Hudson's office yesterday, and will update with any response.) Distressing to Schoeman and neighbors, she said, is that Avanath Capital, which bought the building in May, has not made a public statement regarding what happened nor responded to the tenants' association. She said neighbors in the 298-unit tower still worry that aspects of the building's perimeter are not fully s

This is the third of three articles about the 9/20/22 Quality of Life meeting. The first concerned the delayed platform. The second concerned updates at two tower sites. Revamp incomplete in area near Atlantic Avenue and behind transit entrance The Brooklyn Nets play pre-season home games on Monday, Oct. 3 against the Philadelphia 76ers and Thursday, Oct. 6 against the Miami Heat. Both are key Eastern Division rivals, and if coaches play their first-string rosters, should attract solid crowds. For now, though, the owners of the Nets and the Barclays Center operating company have another date in mind: the season opener Wednesday, Oct. 19, against the New Orleans Pelicans.  Given the new-look Nets, with the expected debut of enigmatic star Ben Simmons coupled with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and the appearance of the surprisingly strong Pelicans, with budding superstar Zion Williamson, that should draw a big crowd. Plus: free t-shirt. Oct. 19 target So no wonder that, as arena spok