Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

So, as we wait for the affordable housing lottery--almost surely for middle-income units--to surface for 662 Pacific St., aka Plank Road, aka B15, I checked to see the rental status for market-rate units--and they're on discount, somewhat. Interestingly enough, StreetEasy lists nine past rentals, all currently unavailable, and seven current listings. I'm not certain whether the unavailable listings have been rented, or taken off the market for a bit.  Some of the past listings were offering one month free rent on a 14-month lease. The current listings are offering one month free rent on a 16-month lease--and in some cases prices have already come down.. That not surprising, given that it takes carrots to get people into a new, amenitized building where only some floors are available for occupancy and construction continues --and continues nearby.  Worth watching is whether a larger number of units--especially when facing competition from the catercorner 18 Sixth Avenue--come ...

Yes, the recent story of the NBA--as indicated in Matt Sullivan's book on the Brooklyn Nets--involves player empowerment. But Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving's vaccine evasions, which generated national criticism , suggest what New York magazine's Will Leitch yesterday headlined as  Kyrie Irving and the Downside of Player Empowerment : But COVID has thrown a wrench into the [NBA's] way of doing business. When your star athletes hold power, there is always the possibility that they, being human after all, will wield that power in the stupidest possible ways — ways that shoot your league right in the foot. Irving, who must be vaccinated to play in New York, is currently practicing with the team in San Diego.  Meanwhile, happy talk from the Brooklyn Nets' official site: neither BROOKLYN NETS MEDIA DAY NOTEBOOK nor BROOKLYN NETS MEDIA DAY: KEVIN DURANT LOOKS AHEAD mention what NetsDaily's Matt Brooks summarized as "The elephant was in the Zoom ... but ...

Well, the biggest Brooklyn Nets news yesterday was the absence of unvaccinated star guard Kyrie Irving from the media day--clearly a source of internal tension--and Irving's avoidance of answers when queried afterward. That suggests he might miss home games in New York, given city vax requirements, diminishing team power and unity. As Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News  put it : The lack of clarity on Irving’s status hovers like a dark cloud wafting above Barclays Center, overshadowing a Nets season with tangible championship aspirations. Irving is a key piece to the Nets’ hopes, a gifted scorer and ballhandler coming off of the most efficient shooting season of his NBA career. And the small but vocal number of NBA anti-vaxxers overshadowed media day around the league yesterday. A big new sponsor But the biggest news for the franchise was the departure of one-year jersey patch sponsor Motorola and the purported "cultural alignment" Brooklyn Nets management tout...

Had Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant’s foot moved slightly , enabling a three-pointer, the Nets would’ve beaten the Milwaukee Bucks in their playoff series in June and, presuming co-stars Kyrie Irving and James Harden rebounded from injuries, likely won the NBA championship. If so, there’d be more buzz about the Nets’ astounding reboot as megastar magnet, one story line in journalist Matt Sullivan’s fascinating new book centered on the 2019-2020 NBA season, Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow . (Sullivan did just provoke buzz with his 9/25/21 Rolling Stone article about the NBA's anti-vaxxers, including Irving, who  may be unable to play home games. We'll learn more at media day today.) Can't Knock the Hustle is an anti- Moneyball , ignoring game recaps and analytics to describe team dynamics, player consciousness, and societal forces unleashed during that period, intersecting wit...

Tomorrow is the Brooklyn Nets' media day, the start of an odds-on path to a NBA championship for a team with three superstars--Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden--and a strong supporting cast. But it may be marred by a bombshell report published last night by Rollling Stone,  The NBA’s Anti-Vaxxers Are Trying to Push Around the League—And It’s Working .  Matt Sullivan reports that Irving is unvaccinated, which should run afoul of a New York City rule requiring pro athletes to show proof of vaccination, and that Irving, no stranger to conspiracy theories, is very much anti-vax. Inside the NBA's vaccine civil war: Will Kyrie skip home games? Has the league caved to players? Does one player even get how masks work? And what's with that Moderna conspiracy theory in locker rooms? Spoke to players+execs+docs+Kareem for @RollingStone : https://t.co/NMbaygxQcz pic.twitter.com/Qzbf7hX42q — Matt Sullivan (@sullduggery) September 26, 2021 Sullivan in June published a fas...

The Atlantic Yards cycle continues for the job of City Planning Commission Chair and Department of City Planning Director, with a former Empire State Development (Corporation) executive replacing a former ESDC executive.   Now that longtime CPC/DCP head Marisa Lago, a former ESDC head, has been named to a post (Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade) with the U.S. Commerce Department, her deputy, Anita Laremont, was named to replace her--at least until the next mayor comes on.  Laremont, as I wrote three years ago, was ESDC's longtime General Counsel, but her less than stellar record with Atlantic Yards was not mentioned in the press release back then. Nor was it mentioned in the new press release, below. Back in 2018 we hosted Anita Laremont on What's The [Data] Point? It was a very interesting conversation about city planning, housing, etc: https://t.co/7iwSUF4rQR — Ben Max (@TweetBenMax) September 23, 2021 The press release Mayor de Blasio Names Anita Lare...

I got a statement from Greenland Forest City Partners, the project master developer, in response to my recent articles: Brewing crisis with huge Chinese property developer Evergrande casts cloud over real-estate giants, including Greenland, parent of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park master developer That delayed platform over the Vanderbilt Yard reminds us of a company "exposed to one of the world’s most volatile economies” The statement: “Greenland Forest City Partners is fully committed and resourced to complete Pacific Park Brooklyn, and our business remains unaffected by unrelated corporations around the world. To speculate otherwise would be a complete mischaracterization of our commitment to complete this world-class project in Brooklyn. We have accelerated development over the past several years with two new buildings and several hundred affordable units being delivered in the coming months.”  A few comments in response Ok, but I'm not the only one speculating--so too did Th...

Update: a statement from the developer saying it's "fully committed and resourced to complete Pacific Park Brooklyn" and it's "unaffected by unrelated corporations around the world," plus some comments in response. As I wrote yesterday, the brewing crisis around heavily indebted Chinese developer Evergrande suggests a potential cloud over Greenland USA, the U.S. arm of Greenland Holding Group, the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park master developer (owning nearly all of Greenland Forest City Partners). No, Greenland is not in its own debt crisis, but extended contagion could affect it and other China-based developers with projects in the United States. After all, Bisnow yesterday reported on a ripple effect from Evergrande on another developer: China Oceanwide Holdings Group, with $3.5B worth of unfinished developments in U.S. markets, is unsure about its ability to continue operations as it struggles to raise capital through refinancing or asset sales, Bloombe...

Update: a  statement  from the developer saying it's "fully committed and resourced to complete Pacific Park Brooklyn" and it's "unaffected by unrelated corporations around the world," plus some comments in response. A brewing crisis with China's once-busiest property developer --with more than $300 billion in debt--could have significant ripple effects in the Chinese and world economies, and especially with other developers.  That suggests a cloud over Greenland USA, the U.S. arm of Greenland Holding Group, the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park master developer (owning nearly all of Greenland Forest City Partners), making it harder to access the capital to move forward with the project, notably an expensive platform, in two phases, for six towers over the Vanderbilt Yard. But it's a fluid situation. The "three red lines" Let's recap. Investors Have a New Default Worry in China’s Debt Market , Bloomberg News reported 1/11/21, noting that mid-...

The NBA's sponsorship deals just keep booming, and that must have Brooklyn Nets management salivating. First, the uniform patch. The Los Angeles Lakers just announced a "global maketing partnership" with the Korean food company Bibigo, worth (as  per  Yahoo), according to  the Los Angeles Times  $100 million over five years. That includes not just the patch but courtside real estate and other advertising, according to the official announcement . Yahoo noted that the previous sponsor, Wish,  paid $12-14 million per year . And the Nets? Just last year the Brooklyn Nets announced a new uniform patch partnership with Motorola, surely more lucrative than the previous $8 million a year deal with Infor. No term was announced, but last May the New York Post reported that the Nets were already seeking a new sponsor, and NetsDaily suggests the deal has already expired.  If so, the Nets' star power, and likelihood of appearning on TV, suggests that the Nets c...

So now that everyone's wondering about Mayor-in-waiting Eric Adams, it's worth a recap of his shifting but ultimately supportive posture of the Barclays Center and Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. And that suggests that he will do what he can to ensure future ribbon-cuttings, while perhaps ensuring some additional public benefits--whether meaningful or a mere gesture, we shall see. The early days Some 18 months after Atlantic Yards was announced in December 2003, the battle for public opinion was continuing. In June 2005, the minister-led Downtown Brooklyn Leadership Coalition, working with Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), promoted a "March to City Hall," with the lead article by Bob Law, a radio host, Prospect Heights merchant, and ally of Council Member Barron, who considered the proposed Community Benefits Agreement “corrupt.”  To Law, project supporters like the Rev. Herbert Daughtry (an Adams mentor) had backed "wealthy White powerbrokers," while...