Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

This is the second of three articles on Greenland USA finances related to Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. The first concerned Greenland's large impairment (loss in value).  A Forest City Realty Trust press release June 28, 2018, Forest City, Greenland Close Restructuring of Pacific Park Brooklyn Partnership , indicated, that, as previously announced, Greenland USA would acquire all but 5% of Forest City Ratner/Forest City Realty Trust's ownership interest in Pacific Park going forward. No price was announced. While some, including me, unwisely used the term "buy," the press release didn't specify a sale, or a price. As I describe below, evidence--neither confirmed nor denied--suggests that Forest City simply gave it away, to avoid further losses. That press release carefully cited a "restructuring" that took "Greenland USA's ownership interest in the venture from 70 percent to 95 percent going forward, and Forest City's interest from 30 percen

This is the first of three articles on Greenland USA finances related to Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.  An audit of Greenland Holding Group, the Shanghai-based parent of Greenland USA, indicates that, as of the end of 2023, the firm recognized an impairment--a loss in value--of nearly $391 million from its investment in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. That indicates the impact of project delays and helps explain why there's been no revenue, or cushion, to pay back outstanding loans, now facing foreclosure, under the EB-5 investor visa program.  Though the impairment is substantial, it's little more than half of the $732 million in impairments, as detailed below, suffered by original developer Forest City Enterprises/Forest City Realty Trust on the project. The new total comes from a machine translation of this 2023  audit report , by Daxin Certified Public Accountants, dated April 30, 2024, according to its URL. (I asked Greenland for comment on the numbers, but didn't hear bac

I have an article in City Limits today about 38 Sixth Avenue (B3), which has been subject to numerous complaints from tenants about basic services like hot water and a working front door, and a belated response from landlord Avanath. Avanath bought the building two years ago from Greenland Forest City Partners, which developed it on a 70/30 basis, with 70% contributed by Greenland USA and 30% by joint-venture partner Forest City Ratner, the project's original developer. The headline is Despite New Owner’s Promised Upgrades, ‘100% Affordable’ Atlantic Yards Building Endures Hot Water Outages, Broken Door, Even Bees . Some context At a  meeting  last month of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), a lawyer for the parent Empire State Development (ESD) defended the project against criticism from longtime advocacy planner and academic Ron Shiffman, an AY CDC Director, who said the developers "have not delivered for at least 15 years." Shiffman

Could NY State Leverage that Neon Art (or Advertising?) Installation to Get Tsai to Pay for the Plaza? ( link ) Empire State Development doesn't have to sign off on an automatic extension after three years, does it?

So, the "You Belong Here"/"We Belong Here" neon art installation over the Barclays Center transit hub was unveiled Oct. 23, 2021 for at least three years, as I reported . Will Tavares Strachan's artwork, part of "Belong/Brooklyn," an initiative of the the Joe & Clara Tsai Foundation's Social Justice Fund (SJF), stay longer? Well, it's permitted through the end of the year, not 36 months, as I'd supposed. And while state officials told me no renewal request has been received and the SJF didn't respond to my query, I wouldn't bet against it. Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the larger project, told me that, if/when a request for extension is received, approval is an internal matter, not subject to public comment. That suggests an easy process. Upon the installation, the SJF stated , it "will be on long-term view at the entrance of Barclays Center, atop the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays C

Getting Up to Speed on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park ( link ). Because my FAQ is way too long, some key articles and concepts.

 Weekly Digest: Questions Swirl Around Future of (Tsai's) Plaza, Greenland's Role in Larger Project ( link )

Nearly twelve years ago, I wrote  A Brand Called Brooklyn  for The Brooklyn Rail, a publication that, with the departure of co-founder Theodore Hamm in 2013, would no longer publish tough coverage of Brooklyn issues. With the advent of the Barclays Center, I wrote, developer and arena operator Forest City was doing its best to "exploit [Brooklyn's]s reputation as a world-class destination." Well, the current arena operator, BSE Global, is now doing more. After all, the acronym comes from "Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment." Notably, the formerly-indie Brooklyn Magazine --mostly a web presence, plus a good podcast --has joined BSE Global, the holding company owned by Joe Tsai (and the Julia Koch family) that includes the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and Barclays Center operating company. It's apparently part of a larger effort to grow an enterprise called Brooklyn Media, focusing on "sports, music, fashion and sneakers, and food," as embodied

Hey, you do belong here, right? Under the rubric of the Belong Brooklyn, an initiative of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation's Social Justice Fund (SJF),  three free concerts  have been scheduled at the Barclays Center's Ticketmaster Plaza. Tomorrow, from 2:30-7:15 pm, will be the Brooklyn Raga Massive (BRM) festival, followed by theAfroBeats vs Amapiano Takeover Aug. 4 (more here on the genres, one from Nigeria, one from South Africa); then the third annual Angela Yee Day Sept. 1, featuring the locally famous DJ and radio host. Screenshot from Social Justice Fund Social justice or community relations? The series is "featuring"--whatever that means--the Workforce Readiness Awareness Campaign, according to the SJF, which is funded by the primary owner of the Brooklyn Nets, Barclays Center operating company, and more. That campaign emphasizes "employment equity, via workforce readiness and re-entry programs, as a means of belonging": To build awareness on thi

At a recent meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), Empire State Development was invited, in a curiously orchestrated sequence ( link ), to solicit a new plan for developing Site 5, catercorner to the arena, from current master developer Greenland USA. Remember, in 2015-16, Greenland Forest City Partners--that's when original developer and joint venture partner Forest City was involved --proposed a giant, two-tower project at the site, currently occupied by the big-box stores P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell's. A 250-foot, 439,050-square foot tower had been approved, but the developer wanted to move the bulk from the unbuilt flagship tower, B1 (aka "Miss Brooklyn") across Flatbush Avenue to create a much larger project, up to 785 feet tall and 1,142,052 square feet. Upcoming changes? That pending plan likely would be further revised and likely expanded by Greenland USA--or, perhaps their new partner or successor, whoeve

Developer Greenland USA is current on payments for Vanderbilt Yard development rights--well, sort of. Greenland, through June 2023, had paid the Metropolitan Transportation Authority cumulatively $96 million towards development rights towards six towers over the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, with an additional $77 million due, in annual $11 million increments, by June 1, 2030. That's per a schedule outlined in 2009, when original developer Forest City Ratner renegotiated the original 2005 pledge of $100 million into $20 million for the railyard parcel needed for (part of) the arena block, and $80 million for the remainder, payable through 2030 at an implied 6.5% interest rate, which one analyst called "a real coup."  By my estimate, as explained below, the payments may have been enough to purchase the rights to build the first three towers, with the remainder should cover the final three towers.  It’s unclear whether Greenland can realize any value for that investment, giv

Would Joe Tsai's Slickest Move Be Poaching Ticketmaster Plaza? ( link from Substack) Keeping the branded plaza bolsters Barclays Center operations & revenues. State authorities have more leverage than they admit. Why not map it as parkland & charge a licensing fee?

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership growth map; Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is at right The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP), the "not-for-profit local development corporation that serves as the primary champion for Downtown Brooklyn as a world-class business, cultural, educational, residential, and retail destination," recently released DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN: 20 YEARS OF GROWTH . It's an interesting project, using maps and graphics to show the remarkable transformation of the area--not just the rezoning area--since the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn rezoning, with 32 million square feet of new development. What shocked me was the claim, discussed further below, that city and state governments have already funded the platform, which I first suspected was an inadvertent disclosure of an upcoming subsidy but turned out to be a bogus overreach.  From DBP report Also, it was surprising that the DBP, rather than trying to minimize--as is typical for boosterish business groups--the public s

Weekly Digest: Video Evidence Proves Barclays Center Bus Numbers Bogus ( Substack link) A lot more were parked, idling, near the arena. Meanwhile, lobbying continues, and Related considers Pacific Park "a great opportunity," but with "a lot of moving parts." That's an understatement.

A July 11 Wall Street Journal exclusive, Stephen Ross Is Launching His Second Act at 84: A New Florida Real-Estate Firm , describes how "Related’s founder and chairman is stepping down and taking Palm Beach properties to his new company." Related, a privately owned New York-based firm founded by Ross 52 years ago, began by building affordable housing, then took on larger projects, like Hudson Yards, built over railroad tracks on Manhattan's Far West Side. The firm, which has a whopping $60 billion worth of completed and ongoing projects, is seeking to build a casino and much more in the second half of Hudson Yards. It will be led by a triumvirate, including Chief Executive Jeff Blau. About Pacific Park The article also adds slightly to news The Real Deal broke a week earlier, about Related's interest in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park: Related also has been trying to take advantage of the increasing distress in the commercial-property market. For example, the firm is in

A hydrant on Flatbush Avenue Last Sunday, I heard reports of buses parked around the Barclays Center, and a neighbor shot video and shared it with me, showing dozens of buses, some of them idling illegally, with a few blocking hydrants, bus stops or (partial) crosswalks, as well as double-parking.  Oddly enough, the arena had not announced an event in its July event calendar circulated to neighbors. Nor had it sent an update. But the videos, as shown below, indicate widespread idling, which is prohibited for more than three minutes. (My source says buses were still idling on a second walk-through.) A Catholic service A search on Twitter/X turned up a post from the Diocese of Brooklyn stating, in the associated image (below left), "Brooklyn is Proud to Host Eucharist in the Barclays Center." I saved the image. (Here's  background  on that Catholic ritual and service. T he event was well-attended, with the arena's upper deck occupied if not full, from this  Instagram