Post real estate section says Atlantic Yards is among megaprojects that "forge ahead"

Well, sometimes the New York Post has its Brooklyn reporters write about Atlantic Yards, and sometimes it has its more promotional real estate reporter do so.

Hence the AY component of today's Post piece headlined Big finish: Mega-projects forge ahead

ATLANTIC YARDS & DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

Yes, the Nets are getting their arena.

It’s been a long time coming. There were a lot of disruptions along the way. “Obviously, the timing of Atlantic Yards, that’s been deferred,” says Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “The original plans that we were so excited about back in 2004 — obviously the world’s changed.”

But after court challenges, protests and a deal with Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, ground was broken last month on the Nets’ Barclays Center, set to open in the spring of 2012. (Jay-Z and Beyoncé were in attendance.) The Barclays Center is the crown jewel in the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project, which will include 6,430 new housing units (2,250 of which will be affordable). And Atlantic Yards is its own jewel in Downtown Brooklyn’s crown.

What? How can the Post be sure it will include everything they say? I guess there was no reason to read the Development Agreement that 1) gives the developer 25 years to build the project, 2) offers the option of building the project 44% smaller, without penalty, and 3) provides for ample extensions if there's a lack of affordable housing subsidies.

The implies less a jewel than an ongoing construction site.

If Atlantic Yards is a jewel in Downtown Brooklyn's crown, it's a jewel off a dogleg, since it doesn't even fit into the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership's map.

Downtown Brooklyn

Still, the rest of the Post segment, in its entirety, segues from AY to Downtown Brooklyn:

“The performance of the rental market has been off the charts — it really exceeded expectations,” says Joe Chan, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. “And there has been steady pickup in the condo market, as well.”

While some ventures in the planning stages were abandoned, most of Downtown Brooklyn’s real estate and cultural projects have gone forward — such as City Point, the 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use project on Fulton and Gold Streets that will start construction next month and include retail space, office space and market-rate and affordable housing.

Rental development continues with projects like the Addison, a 278-unit building on Livingston Street, which will open its leasing office in June. And last month, Pier 1, the first 9½-acre parcel in the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park, opened to the public (Pier 6 is expected to open this spring). It’s had a welcome effect on the 441-unit One Brooklyn Bridge condo in the southern part of the park.

“Sales have increased dramatically,” says Highlyann Krasnow of the Developers Group, which is marketing the building. “In the last week, we’ve done 12 deals. It just gets better and better.”

Well, City Point will start construction with a 50,000 square foot retail project, not as a whole.

As for the condo and rental market downtown, well, Chan and the Post seem to be channeling KPMG.