Is Atlantic Yards on the rocks? Not necessarily. But Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, tells the New York Observer regarding the Bloomberg administration's development plans, "There’s total uncertainty and total insecurity about what comes next."
The Observer's Eliot Brown writes:
What another Bloomberg term would mean for approved developments such as the West Side rail yards and Atlantic Yards isn’t clear, but both developments require substantial investments where financing remains tricky. With Atlantic Yards, developer Forest City Ratner has yet to secure financing or to close on the nearly two-year-old deal, and has asked the city for a new infusion of subsidy.
As for development projects still seeking approval or those that need additional funding, the road could indeed be a rocky one, as city revenues over the next four years would take a major hit from a wounded financial sector.
The arena comes first
That's true, but the funding at issue, I suspect, may be linked less to the arena than the rest of the project. That means that, should legal challenges be resolved and tax-exempt arena bonds be made available, Forest City Ratner will go ahead and build the arena--and then might have leverage to extract subsidies for towers and additional infrastructure.
AY "shaky"?
A Brooklyn Paper article yesterday headlined Save the date: DDDB walkathon as Yards looks shaky, tells us:
...opponents believe that the faltering economy, a crippling credit crunch, soaring costs, and the reluctance of state lawmakers to provide additional subsidies, will kill it for good.
Well, there's certainly more doubt about AY than before, and there are a lot of moving parts and challenges, but that doesn't mean it's shaky or ready for a kill.
Remember, this was the newspaper that in March declared Atlantic Yards Dead. Infrastructure work continues, and it's way too soon to reach a conclusion.
The Observer's Eliot Brown writes:
What another Bloomberg term would mean for approved developments such as the West Side rail yards and Atlantic Yards isn’t clear, but both developments require substantial investments where financing remains tricky. With Atlantic Yards, developer Forest City Ratner has yet to secure financing or to close on the nearly two-year-old deal, and has asked the city for a new infusion of subsidy.
As for development projects still seeking approval or those that need additional funding, the road could indeed be a rocky one, as city revenues over the next four years would take a major hit from a wounded financial sector.
The arena comes first
That's true, but the funding at issue, I suspect, may be linked less to the arena than the rest of the project. That means that, should legal challenges be resolved and tax-exempt arena bonds be made available, Forest City Ratner will go ahead and build the arena--and then might have leverage to extract subsidies for towers and additional infrastructure.
AY "shaky"?
A Brooklyn Paper article yesterday headlined Save the date: DDDB walkathon as Yards looks shaky, tells us:
...opponents believe that the faltering economy, a crippling credit crunch, soaring costs, and the reluctance of state lawmakers to provide additional subsidies, will kill it for good.
Well, there's certainly more doubt about AY than before, and there are a lot of moving parts and challenges, but that doesn't mean it's shaky or ready for a kill.
Remember, this was the newspaper that in March declared Atlantic Yards Dead. Infrastructure work continues, and it's way too soon to reach a conclusion.
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