Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Is 595 Dean a "Successful Project"? ( link ) To one real-estate journalist, all looks fine (and supplies fodder to dis Atlantic Yards opponents). But there's more reason for doubt.

In a required document aimed at bondholders, the Barclays Center operating company, Brooklyn Events Center, recently reported, for the third quarter of this calendar year and the first quarter of the new fiscal year, $5.4 million in suite and sponsor installments, and $40.3 million in ticket sales. That's a total of $45.7 million in cash receipts. How does that compare to past results? Well, in Q1 of FY 2024, the period of July through September of 2023, ArenaCo reported $4.8 million in suite and sponsor installments, and nearly $51 million in ticket sales, for a total of  $55.8 million. That's an 18% drop. So suite and sponsor revenues are up, perhaps--and this is total speculation--because of the new clubs (The Row and The Key) that have been carved out of former suite space, and maybe also because the success of the New York Liberty has driven new sponsorships. Ticket sales down But ticket sales are down somewhat, though still nearly double the figure two years earlier. In ...

Last week I published  Making Sense of the 962 Pacific Street Rezoning Story , a couple of weeks after the New York Times published two online articles about the failed rezoning effort for that Crown Heights lot, but just before the Times published the package in print . So this post repurposes some of that long article. One lesson from some past spot rezonings, as I reported, is that the applicant, often spouting promises of community commitments, is not looking to (or even able to) build, and plans to sell the property once a lucrative rezoning as been achieved. “What we're trying to do… is work with all of you so that we can maintain control over our property, and that we could then bring in somebody, a developer, that echoes the same values we have and that the community has,” property owner Nadine Oelsner told Brooklyn Community Board 8. Would the Oelsners maintain a majority ownership in a joint venture? “We pray to God," she responded, "we can keep this property an...

(Bi-)Weekly Digest: The Strains of Gentrification ( link ) What a stymied rezoning (badly reported by the NY Times) and a new book have in common. Also, more Brooklyn ambitions for BSE Global.

OK, so that New York Times coverage of the 962 Pacific Street rezoning saga, which I wrote about at length yesterday in my newsletter, Making Sense of the 962 Pacific Street Rezoning Story , now appears, in significant part, in tomorrow's print Metropolitan section, which is delivered with the Saturday paper. Except "Two Buildings Were Planned, But Only One Was Erected," published online as Two Apartment Buildings Were Planned. Only One Went Up , gets a lot of wrong, notably the discussion at Brooklyn Community Board 8, which successfully negotiated for more affordable housing that the developer proposed--or was disclosed in the Times.  Please take a look at my coverage .

Making Sense of the 962 Pacific Street Rezoning Story ( link ) The New York Times wrongly posited a NIMBY backlash, missing the Community Board's affordability gain, and downplayed reasons for skepticism. But yes, it was Council Member Hudson's call. From the article: Why should I write about a New York Times series on the “affordability crisis,” which included two articles chronicling 962 Pacific Street, an empty lot that might have delivered a new 150-unit building with affordable housing in Crown Heights? Because 1) yes, it’s Atlantic Yards-adjacent, in a few ways; 2) the Times got some key things wrong; and 3) such coverage furthers the simple  “build more homes” narrative . As the only reporter to steadily cover 962 Pacific, I know the story of this failed rezoning is far more complicated—and strange—than presented. Notably, Brooklyn Community Board 8 didn’t offer knee-jerk opposition, but successfully negotiated more affordable housing than landowner Nadine Oelsner initia...

In October, I cited ( link ) a Bloomberg report that BSE Global, the holding company for the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and Barclays Center operating company, would launch the Brooklyn Wine Club, which promises "A New Experience in the World of Wine" or, as the publication put it, "education and conversations with sommeliers at Barclays and possibly other venues." Well, it's a lot more ambitious, billed as "A new wine experience where luxury and lifestyle are intertwined." Based on the homepage graphic, it looks like they're aiming at a well-heeled, younger, multicultural crowd (which would rather not go to a local wine bar or restaurant?). Membership includes access to: Member-Only Events Invitations to Uncork & Dine gatherings Immersive Global Wine Journeys Wine at Work sessions Special Member Discounts & Perks The cost: a cool $1,500 a year, plus a $250 initiation fee, though Nets and Liberty season ticket members may get a prefe...