Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Click on graphic to enlarge. This is post-dated to stay at the top of the blog. It will be updated as announced configurations change and buildings launch. The August 2014 tentative configurations proposed by developer Greenland Forest City Partners will change, and the project is already well behind that tentative timetable.

In May, Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) and New York City Councilmember Jumaane Williams, the Chair of the Housing Committee, jointly released the latest edition of ANHD’s annual data graphic, 2017 How is Affordable Housing Threatened in Your Neighborhood?

I've truncated it and annotated it below to focus on the four Community Districts where, at least for now, community preferences gives residents a boost in the affordable housing lottery, given that 50% of the below-market units are set aside for those residents.


If you clock to enlarge and look at the far right column, you'll see that, of the four districts, only Brooklyn Community Board 3, Bedford-Stuyvesant, has its risks totaled in red, which indicates the most risks, with a total score of 21.

Community Board 8, which is the northern half of Crown Heights plus Prospect Heights, is in pink, with a total score of 12. By contrast, CB 2 (Brooklyn Heights/Fort Greene) and CB 6 (Park Slope/Carroll…

From Eater yesterday, Massive Parm Will Land in Barclays Center This Fall
Perhaps there’s a reason why the Williamsburg Parm hadn’t reopened after all. On the heels of the official closing, Major Food Group has big Brooklyn news: The restaurant group has joined forces with Barclays Center to open a 200-plus-seat Parm in some of the space that had been The 40/40 Club co-owned by Jay-Z.
The new Parm — located on Suite Level A, up one level from the main entrance — will debut in October in time for the Brooklyn Nets and New York Islanders season. It’s the only full-service, sit-down spot inside the arena and is open to all ticket holders. While The 40/40 Club as Barclays regulars may know will be different in that it’s a smaller bar adjacent to Parm that will keep the name. While this may well be a coup for Parm, it also suggests that the 40/40 Club--now called
THE 40/40 CLUB & RESTAURANT BY TANDUAY RUM--may not be doing as well as hoped.
The current description: Visit the 40/40 CLUB …

In the recent edition of the promotional supplement Brooklyn Tomorrow, Community News Group offered "Atlantic overtures," subtitled, "Buildings from Bklyn Heights to Bed-Stuy are changing the face of the avenue."

From the article:
Two residential buildings at 927 and 1007 Atlantic Ave. in Clinton Hill, where auto repair shops still line the thoroughfare, are under construction and will add another 63 rentals to the neighborhood when finished — a sign of transformations to come, according to locals.
“You’ve got a lot buildings going up since Ratner started Barclays,” said Glen Johnson, who works at Ultimate Auto Repair and Sales, a body shop at 858 Atlantic. “Eventually all these auto shops and dealerships, they’re going to go out of business.” Those sites are between St. James Place and Grand Avenue, and between Grand Avenue and Classon Avenue. (The latter has 20% affordable units.)

Indeed, the auto shops are not long for this area, as has long been predicted. The…

Well, how about that. The arena's loyal partner Billboard reports, in yesterday's Shining a Light on Brooklyn' Gala: Brooklyn's Barclays Center will celebrate its fifth anniversary with the inaugural "Shining a Light on Brooklyn" gala at the historic Liberty Warehouse on Red Hook's Pier 41 on Oct. 12. Proceeds from the event -- which will feature a performance by Leon Bridges and an after-party DJ set by Chromeo -- will benefit the venue's Barclays Center Cares foundation, which supports community programs for children and families through its work with more than 300 schools, food pantries, homeless shelters, health facilities and nonprofits. It's curious that they'll have the event in Red Hook, not at the arena. (Less expensive to keep a smaller venue open late?)

A circle of awardees

But it's even more notable how... circular the event is. Note those being honored, at the official page:
SCOOTER BRAUN
FOUNDER / SB PROJECTS He's on the …

Ah, the (spoon-fed real-estate) press just can'tget enough of the garden at 550 Vanderbilt. See Hippie Amenities With a High-End Twist, from tomorrow's New York Times Real Estate section, posted yesterday:
Just as Birkenstocks and bee pollen have come back in style, so have crunchy lifestyle concepts, from yoga and meditation to composting and home fermentation. And with veganism, Waldorf schools, doulas and healing crystals shifting from far out to very much in fashion, a growing number of New York luxury buildings have embraced the hallmarks of 1970s hippiedom with a high-end twist. Look for amenities like rooftop gardens, kitchen composters, art and meditation studios, bike shares, infrared saunas, even an adult treehouse.
“Especially in Brooklyn, the concrete jungle is not the atmosphere people are aiming for,” said Ashley Cotton, an executive vice president of Forest City New York, whose recently opened condo in Prospect Heights, 550 Vanderbilt, developed in partnership w…

It's not uncommon for the schedule of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park-related meetings to change, and once a previous one has been postponed, the rest get pushed back. And that's exactly what happened.

A message from Empire State Development: the next Quality of Life Meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 19 instead of the previously scheduled September 6 date. This is an opportunity to raise questions about project operations and progress. Sometimes new information emerges.
Atlantic Yards / Pacific Park Quality of Life Meeting
Tuesday, September 19, 2017 @ 6 pm
Shirley Chisholm State Office Building
55 Hanson Place
1st Floor Conference Room
Brooklyn, NY 11217

No RSVP is required, but people can send project-related questions, concerns, or suggested agenda items for the Quality of Life meeting to atlanticyards@esd.ny.gov.

When the lottery for units at the "100% affordable" 535 Carlton opened a year ago, a lot of people were encouraging applications.

So I guess it shouldn't have been surprising that Empire State Development, the state authority overseeing/shepherding Atlantic Yards, alerted people to an upcoming information session.

But I was surprised to see the state reproduce the web page from developer Greenland Forest City Partners, including such nonsense as "Pacific Park is Brooklyn’s newest neighborhood." So I copied it.

Welcome to 535 Carlton, Brooklyn’s Latest Affordable Rentals - ESD Message by AYReport on Scribd