More questions for AY CDC meeting: project timetable? next building? what about Dean Street wall? (blocked traffic yesterday)
The next meeting of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), an advisory body, will be tomorrow at 3 pm. Attendees must RSVP today. See previous coverage of footprint renters and West Portal/railyard timing
While the agenda (below left) for tomorrow's meeting is typically vague--President's Report, Public Comments--there's at least one big issue, in two parts, that should be discussed beyond the ones mentioned above.
And that connects to a smaller but very important question about the giant green wall still on Dean Street, in part, which just yesterday again snagged traffic, as described below and shown at right.
Project timetable: 2025? 2030? 2035?
First, the big question: is there a timetable for the project as a whole?
Remember, in November 2016, developer Forest City Realty Trust--which owns 30% of the project going forward, as part of Greenland Forest City Partners--announced an unspecified pause in the project.
In other words, the required deadline for affordable housing, 2025, would seem to be in jeopardy, given the question marks about the market-rate housing.
How long would that take? Last November, in response to a question, CFO Bob O'Brien said that the firm's financial model "extends to 2035, 20 years from now," incorporating many factors, including cost of infrastructure, condo prices, and absorption of units.
That doesn't necessarily mean a completion date by 2035, but it does suggest that the project won't be done by 2025. The 2035 date may represent stabilization of income, but presumably that's no more than five years--likely less time--after which the project should be completed.
Next building, when?
The next question is when they're building a new tower. While Forest City indicated a pause, their partner, Greenland USA, in June suggested a new tower was likely by the end of the year. The Real Deal reported:
Green wall decision now? In December?
The giant green wall encroaching on part of Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues--which snagged traffic yesterday (see below)--was required to block noise and dust from construction.
Given the lack of construction, the argument for the wall diminishes. At the previous AY CDC meeting in June, Marion Phillips, who heads the advisory board and is also an Empire State Development executive, suggested it would be reevaluated in six months, depending on whether there was no work.
"Right now, we do not believe, based on conversations, we’re going to be in a long period of no work," he said.
The question, though, is whether this week is soon enough to get a definitive answer. But this is the last AY CDC meeting until the end of the year, with the next quarterly meeting likely in January--or later.
The impact of the green wall
Just in time for the meeting, as documented in the videos below, an illegally parked truck on Dean Street stalled a bus for more than 20 minutes. And that meant some drivers actually reversed their vehicles to escape the wrong way down a one-way street.
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| From video by Isabel del Rosal, posted on Twitter |
And that connects to a smaller but very important question about the giant green wall still on Dean Street, in part, which just yesterday again snagged traffic, as described below and shown at right.
Project timetable: 2025? 2030? 2035?
First, the big question: is there a timetable for the project as a whole?
Remember, in November 2016, developer Forest City Realty Trust--which owns 30% of the project going forward, as part of Greenland Forest City Partners--announced an unspecified pause in the project.
In other words, the required deadline for affordable housing, 2025, would seem to be in jeopardy, given the question marks about the market-rate housing.
How long would that take? Last November, in response to a question, CFO Bob O'Brien said that the firm's financial model "extends to 2035, 20 years from now," incorporating many factors, including cost of infrastructure, condo prices, and absorption of units.
That doesn't necessarily mean a completion date by 2035, but it does suggest that the project won't be done by 2025. The 2035 date may represent stabilization of income, but presumably that's no more than five years--likely less time--after which the project should be completed.Next building, when?
The next question is when they're building a new tower. While Forest City indicated a pause, their partner, Greenland USA, in June suggested a new tower was likely by the end of the year. The Real Deal reported:
Pacific Park’s developers will likely break ground on one or two new buildings by the end of the year, Greenland USA’s CEO Hu Gang said Thursday.So they have ten weeks to make that happen.
Gang added that the next building will likely be a rental building under the Affordable New York tax incentive program, with 25 percent of units set aside as affordable. He did not specify which site the developers plan to build on.
Green wall decision now? In December?
The giant green wall encroaching on part of Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues--which snagged traffic yesterday (see below)--was required to block noise and dust from construction.
Given the lack of construction, the argument for the wall diminishes. At the previous AY CDC meeting in June, Marion Phillips, who heads the advisory board and is also an Empire State Development executive, suggested it would be reevaluated in six months, depending on whether there was no work.
"Right now, we do not believe, based on conversations, we’re going to be in a long period of no work," he said.
The question, though, is whether this week is soon enough to get a definitive answer. But this is the last AY CDC meeting until the end of the year, with the next quarterly meeting likely in January--or later.
The impact of the green wall
Just in time for the meeting, as documented in the videos below, an illegally parked truck on Dean Street stalled a bus for more than 20 minutes. And that meant some drivers actually reversed their vehicles to escape the wrong way down a one-way street.
@pacificparkbk this bus has been stuck for 20 min and counting... push back your wall! #wtf #hazard @NYC_DOT #pacificparksucks @barclayscenter #TrafficAlert #ridiculous #thewall pic.twitter.com/zkF7p2N01V— Isabel del Rosal (@PacificParkWall) October 15, 2017
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