No update on project schedule, but "pre-placement of foundations" is mostly done (though milestone for railyard overbuild still murky)
This is the first of ten articles on the 5/7/19 Quality of Life meeting. The second concerned The Brodsky Organization's share of the B4 tower. The third concerned noisy weekend construction. The fourth concerned opacity in the Barclays Center calendars. The fifth concerned illegal parking during arena events. The sixth concerned traffic issues. The seventh concerned oversight. The eighth concerned the Community Liaison Office. The ninth concerned the developer's update. The tenth concerned the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation.
No, we didn't get a schedule update. And no government official, apparently, will press developer Greenland Forest City Partners to confirm, clarify, or deny public information about the project's schedule shared by others associated with the project.
Following up on my previous coverage in City Limits and this blog, I noted at that a "letter from an appraiser that has presumably been working with or in contact with Greenland Forest City" has shared with a lender to the developer--the packager of an EB-5 loan to immigrant investors--an updated project schedule.
That schedule indicates a 2021 construction start for B5, the first building over the railyard, a 2022 construction start for B6 and B7 (with B6 "100% affordable"), and a 2023 construction start for B8. (Here's the project schematic.)
I asked Greenland USA representative Scott Solish to comment.
"I can't speak to what our lender and their consultant sent to their investors," he said.
"Can you speak to your plan?" I asked.
Solish repeated the developer's previous vague statements, noting that they were finishing the revamped Vanderbilt Yard and starting (with partner The Brodsky Organization) the B4 tower, aka 18 Sixth Avenue, and that they would comply with their commitments, notably a 2025 deadline for the project site affordable housing.
"Ass soon as we have an update for the next buildings after B4, which everyone knows is a large building, we’ll certainly let everyone know," he said.
About the platform
I also noted that "Turner [Construction], which is actually working for Greenland Forest City, has produced a schedule for the platform."
Here's my coverage, including the graphic at right, which suggests that it could take six years elapsed time to build the infrastructure needed for vertical construction: three stages each for each of three phases, devoted to one, two, and three buildings, respectively.
But that implies no preliminary work and, as I queried Solish, "I know you’ve been doing preliminary work."
"As you know, as part of what we call the early work, as we were building the permanent yard we were also placing foundations for future platform work," he said. "I would say 98-and-a-half percent of that work is finished, the pre-placement of the foundations."
"Does pre-placement of the foundations," I asked, "constitute 'footings, columns, and foundation walls'?" (That was a reference to the document above.)
"I would say so," said Solish, a bit offhandedly. "I don’t know what you’re looking at. What we call the early work is substantially complete."
Well, hold on. There aren't a ton of columns visible in the railyard, so it's tough to think that the first stage of each phase--"footings, columns, and foundation walls"--is complete.
Solish's offhand tone to me recalled the one he used when, in May 2018, he confirmed that the developer aimed to finish the project in 2025. Later that month, however, the developer submitted an amendment to the 550 Vanderbilt Offering Plan, which stated that “the remaining buildings, and the balance of the public park, [are] projected to be completed in phases by 2035."
No, we didn't get a schedule update. And no government official, apparently, will press developer Greenland Forest City Partners to confirm, clarify, or deny public information about the project's schedule shared by others associated with the project.
That schedule indicates a 2021 construction start for B5, the first building over the railyard, a 2022 construction start for B6 and B7 (with B6 "100% affordable"), and a 2023 construction start for B8. (Here's the project schematic.)
I asked Greenland USA representative Scott Solish to comment.
"I can't speak to what our lender and their consultant sent to their investors," he said.
"Can you speak to your plan?" I asked.
Solish repeated the developer's previous vague statements, noting that they were finishing the revamped Vanderbilt Yard and starting (with partner The Brodsky Organization) the B4 tower, aka 18 Sixth Avenue, and that they would comply with their commitments, notably a 2025 deadline for the project site affordable housing.
"Ass soon as we have an update for the next buildings after B4, which everyone knows is a large building, we’ll certainly let everyone know," he said.
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| Annotations and two right columns added |
I also noted that "Turner [Construction], which is actually working for Greenland Forest City, has produced a schedule for the platform."
Here's my coverage, including the graphic at right, which suggests that it could take six years elapsed time to build the infrastructure needed for vertical construction: three stages each for each of three phases, devoted to one, two, and three buildings, respectively.
But that implies no preliminary work and, as I queried Solish, "I know you’ve been doing preliminary work."
"As you know, as part of what we call the early work, as we were building the permanent yard we were also placing foundations for future platform work," he said. "I would say 98-and-a-half percent of that work is finished, the pre-placement of the foundations."
"Does pre-placement of the foundations," I asked, "constitute 'footings, columns, and foundation walls'?" (That was a reference to the document above.)
"I would say so," said Solish, a bit offhandedly. "I don’t know what you’re looking at. What we call the early work is substantially complete."
Well, hold on. There aren't a ton of columns visible in the railyard, so it's tough to think that the first stage of each phase--"footings, columns, and foundation walls"--is complete.
Solish's offhand tone to me recalled the one he used when, in May 2018, he confirmed that the developer aimed to finish the project in 2025. Later that month, however, the developer submitted an amendment to the 550 Vanderbilt Offering Plan, which stated that “the remaining buildings, and the balance of the public park, [are] projected to be completed in phases by 2035."
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