Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The Barclays Center yesterday circulated its June 2023 event calendar, with ten announced ticketed events, including six New York Liberty games and four concerts. The calendar also lists four graduation ceremonies: Brooklyn College, John Jay, City Tech, Borough of Manhattan Community College. The first two are being held today, with doors opening at 8 am and the second event ending at 6 pm. But they left out the NBA Draft, which will be held Thursday, June 22. While the Barclays Center does  not list ticket sales , the NBA offers  ticket packages , with various perks. Wow--they start at  $429  and go quickly to  $1,199 ,  $1,299 ,  $1,399 ,  $2,399 , and  $2,999 , plus one option,  Hall of Fame , where you have to call for pricing.  (In previous years, tickets were  sold for lower prices  and at higher volume, but apparently the NBA--and the arena operators--are aiming for high-rollers seeking unique experiences. Oddly enough, StubHub has four  upper bowl seats --at $347 and $363 each,

So, how is Greenland Holdings Corp. (aka Greenland Holdings or Greenland Group), the Shanghai-based conglomerate that owns nearly all of the main developer of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, doing? Not well. According to Google Finance , as excerpted below, the stock price on the Shanghai Stock Exchange is 2.83 yuan, almost two-thirds below the peak in late 2020, but not quite as low as the 2.55 yuan it hit in the last year. So the company, like other financially stressed Chinese developers, has high debts, a low credit rating, and, at least according to the Google Finance calculations--which may not be fully reliable--a price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 180.72. Note: the Wall Street Journal says  the P/E ratio is 87.62. Yahoo Finance says 94.33. Either way, that's quite high. The median P/E for the S&P 500 was 14.93 last month, according to Investopedia. Greenland last paid a dividend in July 2021, which means its retaining cash to pay its debts. Note: Greenland USA owns 95% of Gr

From 2/22/18 Forest City Realty Trust annual report : On June 27, 2014, the City of New York and State of New York entities revised certain project requirements with the goal of accelerating the construction of affordable housing. Among the requirements, affordable units are required to constitute 35% of all units for which construction has commenced until 1,050 affordable units have been started, after which the percentage drops to 25%. Failure to meet this requirement will prevent the joint venture from seeking new building permits, as well as give the State the right to seek injunctive relief. Also, temporary certificates of occupancy (“TCOs”) for a total of 2,250 affordable housing units are required to be issued by  May 31, 2025  or a $2,000 per unit per month penalty will be imposed for those affordable units which have not received TCOs by such date, until issued. (Emphasis added) That deadline won't be met, given the failure to start a platform over the Metropolitan Transp

The latest Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday, May 29 (though a holiday), has not been circulated by email yet by Empire State Development (ESD) after preparation (presumably) by master developer Greenland Forest City Partners. But I did notice it yesterday--maybe it was there earlier--at ESD's Atlantic Yards page . Again there's little change, compared with the  previous update , though there is something odd. The previous document simply said, regarding Block 1120, the crucial first block of the Vanderbilt Yard, where a platform would support three towers, "There are no construction activities scheduled for the reporting period." (The block is bounded by Sixth and Carlton avenues, and Pacific Street and Atlantic Avenue.) The latest update repeats that, but goes on to add phrasing that was previously part of the Updates when the platform work was teased,  starting in May 2022 : The MTA B45 bus stop at A

It's hardly a surprise that  Bond With Brooklyn , the social media platform from developer TF Cornerstone, is still recruiting applicants for the income-targeted "affordable" housing at the two-tower 595 Dean (aka B12/B13). After all, the rents are, while below market for such new construction in that location, affordable only to a relatively small swath of the population, middle-class households looking to pay $2,290 for a studio, $2,690 for a 1-BR, and $3,360 for a 2-BR.  On Instagram, where Bond With Brooklyn ads entered my feed, they couldn't avoid--as shown below--some angry comments, as in "What a joke for 'affordable housing'" or "Affordable Housing, not at all!"  Hence the developer's use of the term "rent-stabilized." From Instagram

Oversight of and transparency regarding Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park has continued to slack, as there's no sight of new construction. Yes, TF Cornerstone is finishing the buildings at, and open space around, the two-tower 595 Dean Street, and Chelsea Piers will open its fitness center and fieldhouse next month--and it's unclear how that will all work.  And the School Construction Authority is still working on the middle school at Sixth Avenue between Pacific and Dean streets, at the base of the completed 662 Pacific Street tower, aka Plank Road. Otherwise, there's nothing new pending. And, for months, we haven't heard anything from master developer Greenland Forest City Partners, which is dominated by Greenland USA.  We don't even know if Greenland USA has replaced its longtime Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park point man, Scott Solish, who left in February. We don't know if Greenland has any new estimate on its ability to start the crucial platform over the Vanderbilt

I wrote 3/6/23 how, according to the Real Deal, some legislators support extending the construction completion deadline for projects supported by the 421-a tax abatement for four years--from June 15, 2026 to June 15, 2030--but not for all projects, as Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed. Rather, they'd offer that carrot only to buildings that contain more than the required minimum under the tax break provisions, which is 30% at 130% of Area Median Income (AMI), middle-income units aimed at those earning six figures. If so, that could be extended to projects along Atlantic Avenue, just east of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park site, that were approved in spot rezonings in recent years, but perhaps not B5, 700 Atlantic Avenue, the first Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park tower over the railyard. A renewed argument In a 5/23/23 essay in City Limits,  Opinion: 421-a Deadline Threatens the Promise of Gowanus Rezoning , Michelle de la Uz, executive director of Fifth Avenue Committee, and Rachel Fee,