The Lehman Brothers meltdown can't be good news for backers of Atlantic Yards, especially since Forest City Ratner is searching for an anchor tenant to begin construction of Building 1, the one office tower planned for now.
From a New York Times article, headlined City and State Brace for Greater Demands on Diminishing Resources:
With the prospect of Lehman’s space going on the market, the likely result will be a drop in rents at some of the city’s premier buildings and fewer new towers going up, said real estate executives, urban planners and government officials. Those that are built will probably be smaller, they said.
...The crisis on Wall Street does not bode well for the proposed towers designed for financial firms at some of the city’s most important projects, either, including the rail yards on the West Side of Manhattan.
A tougher market for financing
There also may be trouble getting financing in general. From AM NY:
If the housing market softens, developers may get jittery and be less willing to finance all the new buildings going up, leading to lots of empty lots. And big projects like the new World Trade Center and the Atlantic Yards could grind to a halt, according to Chris Jones, a researcher at the Regional Plan Association, should financing becomes more difficult and tax revenues dry up.
From a New York Times article, headlined City and State Brace for Greater Demands on Diminishing Resources:
With the prospect of Lehman’s space going on the market, the likely result will be a drop in rents at some of the city’s premier buildings and fewer new towers going up, said real estate executives, urban planners and government officials. Those that are built will probably be smaller, they said.
...The crisis on Wall Street does not bode well for the proposed towers designed for financial firms at some of the city’s most important projects, either, including the rail yards on the West Side of Manhattan.
A tougher market for financing
There also may be trouble getting financing in general. From AM NY:
If the housing market softens, developers may get jittery and be less willing to finance all the new buildings going up, leading to lots of empty lots. And big projects like the new World Trade Center and the Atlantic Yards could grind to a halt, according to Chris Jones, a researcher at the Regional Plan Association, should financing becomes more difficult and tax revenues dry up.
Just reported on WCBS-TV earlier tonight. Barclays just brought Lehman Brothers for almost $2 Billion ($1.75 Billion to be exact).
ReplyDeleteWith that going down tonight, what does it mean for AY?
well, it is strange:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7620127.stm
Meanwhile, Barclays said it had reached a deal to buy Lehman's US investment banking and capital markets businesses.
The $250m deal, which is subject to approval from the bankruptcy court, will make the British bank the third biggest investment bank in the US.
Barclays will also purchase Lehman's New York headquarters and its two data centres in New Jersey for $1.5bn...
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Why wouldn't Barclays want to be the anchor tenant in/or next to Barclays Center rather than buying Lehman's New York headquarters?