Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

BrooklynSpeaks to Elected Officials: Ensure Deeply Affordable Housing, Have Arena Plaza Operator Fund Monitors ( link ) Also: get financial analysis of proposed effort to supersize project. But will community coalition give carte blanche on scale?

As I reported in June 2022 ( link ), master developer Greenland USA confirmed it had signed a contractor to build the platform over the Vanderbilt Yard, one a Greenland rep said had "tremendous amounts of experience working with directly with the Long Island Rail Road." The contractor was identified in meeting notes  from an Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting: a joint venture with Plaza Construction and China Construction of America, or CCA. Both are state-owned, essentially. China Construction of America is a subsidiary of Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corp. Ltd. (CSCEC), and in 2014 acquired Plaza Construction, which was founded in 1986 and continues to operate under that name. CCA does have experience working with the LIRR. It's unlikely that Greenland will resurrect its plan, given that it seems ready to lose development rights to six tower sites over the railyard, which require the two-block platform. Greenland, in documents

The bizarre saga continues.  I wrote Oct. 11, Related CEO's lawsuit claiming harassment by (aggrieved) EB-5 investors dropped--against all but one. Was there a settlement?   Well, that day, Jeff Blau discontinued the proceeding against the last of the seven original defendants charged with harassing him and his family outside of their home, angry that they have not been repaid the $500,000 they each invested. However, that apparently didn't stop other EB-5 investors crowding around his residence and sending email making demands, and continuing "loud, disruptive and threatening demonstrations." So, on Oct. 23, Blau filed an amended complaint , naming as defendants "John Does 1-100," without identifying any. (The complaint, in the caption, also names the original seven defendants, but the text does not mention them.) Here's the case file . Instead of saying the defendants had "orchestrated and conducted" acts "of harassment, intimidation an

A WNBA Championship Prompts a Parade, and Amnesia ( link ) Also, developer Greenland USA promoted giant project at Site 5 as part of "The Brooklyn Trio," the borough's three tallest buildings. Images, however, were redacted.

Everyone loves a parade, right? So the parade along the Canyon of Heroes Thursday for the WNBA champions New York Liberty got front-page mention in the New York Times, and either the front or the back pages in the tabloids, below. It was living proof that, as the sports economists say, having pro sports is more about the intangibles--community spirit--than actually bringing new tax revenue.  Remember, the Barclays Center is tax-exempt, and Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, main owners of the team and the arena company, get the branded, revenue-producing plaza for free. I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers. pic.twitter.com/A4TFtkBjoS — Robert Shields (@rshields37) October 25, 2024 I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers: back page edition. pic.twitter.com/0V98SjggmL — Robert Shields (@rshields37) October 25, 2024 Grit and passion Heck, even Barclays, sponsor of the arena and the team, ordered a full-page ad in Thuresday's New York Times, honoring the Liberty. "Congra

You know what they say: arenas become obsolete after 20 or 30 years, not because they can't house ticketholders but because competing newer venues offer more bells and whistles. Well, BSE Global, parent of the Barclays Center, Brooklyn Nets, and other properties, isn't waiting around, and they have lots of cash, thanks to a recent investment by the family of Julia Koch. The 15% stake was said by Sportico to include $492 million to pay down debt, and $196 million for working capital. Yesterday, BSE Global announced the opening of two premium membership clubs, previously announced as The Row and The Key, but now with--natch--sponsors:  BSE Global Debuts Two New Premium Membership Clubs at Barclays Center, the Toki Row and JetBlue at the Key : BROOKLYN – Today, ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season, BSE Global will debut two new open concept, premium membership clubs at Barclays Center – The Toki Row and JetBlue at The Key – as part of the first phase of a more than $100 million, five

Leaning into Brooklyn, BSE Global CEO Sam Zussman sounds a little like (first Nets/arena CEO) Brett Yormark 2.0, but rather than simply cascading the buzz, he has real plans for an "ecosystem" of assets, including a hotel, conference center, and--as I reported in July--a new media venture. How the Nets Plan to Build a Legit Fanbase: Business of Sports , Bloomberg reported yesterday. Because the Nets are are the only major league team with Brooklyn in their name--remember, it's the New York Liberty--“enhancing the value, enhancing the credibility, enhancing the attraction is good for us,” Zussman said. In acquiring the digital property Brooklyn Magazine--this was the first acknowledgement--BSE will build "a venture called Brooklyn Media to promote the borough’s arts and culture scene,"according to Zussman. That invariably will include cross-promotion of BSE Global properties. A hotel across the street? While Zussman likened plans to LA Live, the entertainment d

The New York Liberty, the WNBA champions, will be honored with a ticker-tape parade tomorrow morning. NYC WE OUTSIDE TOMORROW‼️ Join us for our Victory Parade tomorrow at 10AM! Free and open to the public🗽 🔗: https://t.co/np9veFUlWV pic.twitter.com/sqXgtsCEMb — New York Liberty (@nyliberty) October 23, 2024 Tomorrow night, at the Barclays Center, there's a celebration--the free tickets have been sold out. A resolution Council Member Crystal Hudson, whose 35th District includes the arena, announced she'd introduce a resolution honoring the Liberty, stating “For so many fans, watching and following the New York Liberty has long served as a place of community building and inspiration." WNBA champions @nyliberty are getting an official day of honor for their big win this week, @CMCrystalHudson says: pic.twitter.com/fesUKpcp2U — Andrew Giambrone (@AndrewGiambrone) October 23, 2024 Hudson also will present the Liberty with a proclamation from the City of New York in re

Welcome to "The Brooklyn Trio"? ( link )  In architecture firm's presentation, developer Greenland lobbied hard to build bigger at Site 5 opposite arena. New York State signed on. Tower images still redacted.

So the New York Liberty won their first WNBA title in an overtime thriller last night at the Barclays Center (see NetsDaily coverage here ), prompting cheers from many New Yorkers and Brooklynites for the team's play and the owners' savvy in rebuilding the franchise. They made the tabloids' front pages: I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers. pic.twitter.com/0QAHSnL69o — Robert Shields (@rshields37) October 21, 2024 And, of course, the back pages: I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers: back page edition. pic.twitter.com/3VHV11bniS — Robert Shields (@rshields37) October 21, 2024 Public people “There is nothing like professional sports to make public people nutty," the late Assemblymember Richard Brodsky said in Congressional testimony on Sept. 18, 2008, referring to the willingness of various government entities to subsidize what subsidy skeptic Bettina Damiana  called  privately-owned "sports entertainment corporations." But sports brings people

Weekly Digest: A Case Study of Atlantic Yards (vs. Hudson Yards) ( link ) Plus: tonight, the New York Liberty play in the decisive WNBA Finals game, at the Barclays Center.

So, the New York Liberty lost a nail-biter last night in Minneapolis, as the home Lynx tied the best-of-five WNBA Finals at 2-2, setting up a deciding Game 5 tomorrow at 8 pm at Barclays Center. While it hasn't been announced yet, I'd expect amplified sound and other promotional activites on branded Ticketmaster Plaza before the game. Photos Oct. 17 by Norman Oder The cheapest Upper Bowl tickets  start at $223 . Expect a full house, and some craziness on the streets, especially if the Libs win. Mayor Eric Adams, surely happy for a feel-good distraction amid his legal and other troubles, has promised a ticker-tape parade along the section of Broadway known as the "Canyon of Heroes" if the Liberty win. Perhaps Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso will aim for a local celebration. Contra the up-and-down Brooklyn Nets, the Liberty have become a feel-good narrative for both the WNBA and the fans, with owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai investing in a distressed asset ,

OK, there will finally be a forum to hear community concerns about Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, and the Barclays Center.  As I wrote Oct. 5 ( link ), officials at Empire State Development, the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, said they would soon schedule a  Quality of Life meeting , the first since February 2023. The meetings slacked when vertical construction finished, and also, I suspect, because ESD personnel had departed.  However, the reason for such meetings, with ESD having the ability to bring representatives from various agencies and companies to field question, has not waned. "This meeting is a forum for the community to receive updates and engage Empire State Development, Barclays Center operators, and other project partners in the Atlantic Yards Project regarding issues affecting the quality of life for residents and businesses in close proximity to the project site," the notice stated. I'll publish an update before the meeting about some

Penn Case Study: Atlantic Yards Lacked Edge Hudson Yards Had ( link ) Easier transaction, more density, transport subsidy. But researchers ignored Hudson Yards' huge EB-5 fundraising and impact of Downtown Brooklyn rezoning. Sloppy, too.

There's a quote I remember from former Forest City Ratner CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, in one observer's paraphrase , don't "get too attached to the brick and mortar.” So the 36-story 80 DeKalb tower, Forest City's first Brooklyn residential tower, claimed to test the market for Atlantic Yards when it opened in 2009, has been sold yet again, in a third transaction, at a modest profit. Let's back up. As reported in June 2018, Forest City Realty Trust--the successor to Forest City Enterprises, parent of Forest City Ratner/Forest City New York--along with Madison International Realty bought out the 49% owned by National Real Estate Advisors. The transaction valued National's share of the property at a total of $93.5 million, including assumption of debt, suggesting the total project value of $190.8 million.  Then, as reported in July 2022, Forest City's successor, Brookfield sold the tower for $190 million to the partnership of KKR and Dalan Management. Not m

Weekly Digest: Will Pacific Park Be Renamed? I'd Bet Yes. ( link ) C'mon, wouldn't a new developer want a reboot? Also: WNBA Finals.

Yes, this is a very niche topic, but a recent fact-checking exercise prompted me to explore the question: how big is/was the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's three-block Vanderbilt Yard, used to store and service Long Island Rail Road trains and, years ago, store obsolete MTA buses? Was it 8.5 acres, a shorthand I've typically used and which I've seen in various   press reports? What about 8.3 acres, according to a  2005 report  and a  2009 report  from the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO)? Or was it "approximately nine acres," as estimated in numerous documents from Empire State Development (ESD, fka Empire State Development Corporation), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project? Was it 8.6 acres, as seen in one  academic study ? Via NoLandGrab How about 8.4 acres, the figure used by Wikipedia (without a footnote), and some press coverage ? Drilling down Well, the latter answer is closest to accuracy.   Thanks to NoLandG

Less than three weeks ago a lawsuit surfaced, from the CEO of Related Companies, Jeff Blau against seven Chinese investors under the EB-5 investor visa program who he claimed were harassing him at home. My headline was  Some EB-5 investors furious about failure to get their $500K repaid now sued for harassing Related CEO. How ethical is Related's business practice? As I wrote, the lawsuit describes some indefensible behavior, disavowed by other investors, and, if corroborated, worthy of some sanction. Still, it--and an article based on it in the real-estate publication The Real Deal--downplayed the triggering issue, in which Related gained $500,000 each from more than 2,000 Chinese investors under  EB-5 starting in 2014 and apparently has paid little of the money back. That kind of business practice, though apparently legal thanks to a contractual structure that advantages a sophisticated party (Related) against some far less sophisticated people (the Chinese investors), is hard

According to an update circulated yesterday by the Barclays Center, the arena will host at least two WNBA Finals game, with the New York Liberty hosting the Minnesota Lynx. Tonight, the game is at 8 pm, with amplified sound on Ticketmaster Plaza 6-8 pm. On Sunday, October 13, the game is at 3 pm, with amplified sound on the plaza 1-3 pm. Also, the arena disclosed something it could have disclosed when the calendar was first circulated . On Sunday, October 27, prior to the Brooklyn Nets' season-opener against the Milwaukee Bucks, "there will be an event on the Plaza from 11 am-6 pm with amplified sound." This is updated with the information in today's article Interestingly enough, though the Liberty are the top seed and the Lynx lost two games in the semi-finals, the Lynx won the series this season with the Liberty. Asked to make predictions, experts at ESPN were split : one picked the Liberty in 4 games and another picked the Liberty in 5, while two picked the Lynx in

Will "Pacific Park" Be Renamed? Housing Surge Would Increase Open Space Deficit ( link ) Back to "Atlantic Yards"? Nah. "Another ocean"? Nope. How about "Brooklyn Central"? You read it here first.

About a year ago, I provided an update ( link ) on the long-running lawsuit by McDonald's, tenant of a drive-through restaurant at the corner of Vanderbilt and Atlantic avenues, against its landlord Vanderbilt Atlantic Holdings (VAH), which would build an 18-story residential tower at the site--if it could get its tenant out. U.S. District Court Dora Irizarry denied VAH's motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment, pointing toward a bench trial on whether each party failed to act in good faith in the fair market value appraisal process. More recently, the judge handed McDonald's another procedural victory. In a pre-trial ruling Sept. 30, the court denied the landlord's motion to preclude testimony and documentary evidence related to appraisals conducted prior to April 15, 2019, which is when McDonald's told VAH they couldn't agree on the fair market value.  The court. which earlier cited "credibility concerns" regarding the landlord's condu

Weekly Digest: Related Deal Still Murky; Momentum for Site 5 & Permanent Plaza ( link ) New York State officials, at public meeting, sound cagey. What about the middleman with a criminal record?

This is the fifth of five articles about the Sept. 26  meeting  of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC). The  first  concerned BSE Global's plans to use the closed Modell's store for a youth basketball program.  The  second  concerned the expected entry of Related Companies and the obligations for affordable housing.  The  third  concerned plans for a giant, two-tower project at Site 5.  The fourth concerned the plan to make the arena plaza permanent. Let me cover a few issues unmentioned in previous coverage. For many years, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, held bi-monthly Quality of Life meetings to update neighbors on project changes and to answer questions from them. The last such meeting was in February 2023, more than 20 months ago. The meetings slacked when vertical construction finished, and also, I suspect, because ESD personnel had departed. However, the reason for such meeting

This is the fourth of five articles about the Sept. 26  meeting  of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC). The  first  concerned BSE Global's plans to use the closed Modell's store for a youth basketball program.  The  second  concerned the expected entry of Related Companies and the obligations for affordable housing.  The third concerned plans for a giant, two-tower project at Site 5.  The  fifth  concerned plans for a Quality of Life meeting. In my coverage of plans for Site 5, catercorner to the arena, I noted that the presentation to the AY CDC by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, used loaded language to describe plans in a document called Exhibit K, part of the parcel's interim lease.  The giant two-tower project at Site 5 would involving transferring bulk from the flagship tower (B1, aka "Miss Brooklyn") once planned to loom over the arena, across Flatbush Avenue to Si