So, would The Brodsky Organization or TF Cornerstone have partnered with Greenland USA on the B5 tower? On all six railyard sites? What about emerging Site 5?

So, was The Brodsky Organization or TF Cornerstone going to partner on the B5 tower, the first tower over the Vanderbilt Yard?

B5, center-left, plus (built) B4. Dattner Architects

Would that firm have joined Greenland USA on all railyard sites? Those are "what-if" questions that are probably moot--except that one or the other might emerge as a partner on Site 5, the remaining parcel Greenland controls.

From a September 2022 letter to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from Greenland USA President Gang Hu regarding plans--pre-foreclosure, of course--for B5: 

"We have also notified both the MTA Parties and ESD [Empire State Development] of our intent to develop the B5 Building with a partner that has experience at Pacific Park but will not be able to invest in the project unless it is assured that it can complete the B5 Building prior to the 2026 [421-a tax break] deadline."

That deadline has been extended, but that's not an issue now, since rights to the six railyard towers (B5-B10) are being lost in a foreclosure process, expected to involve a joint venture including Hudson Yards developer Related Companies, the U.S. Immigration Fund, and Fortress Investment Group.

Graphic by Ben Keel and Norman Oder. Click to enlarge.

Who was it?

There weren't many partners with experience in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.

Greenland had already partnered with The Brodsky Organization on the B4 tower, 18 Sixth Ave., and sold the lease to the B15 site, 662 Pacific St., to Brodsky.

It had separately sold the leases to the B12/B13 sites, now known as 595 Dean St., to TF Cornerstone.

Graphic by Ben Keel and Norman Oder. Click to enlarge.

So those were the two potential partners. Given the previous partnership with Brodsky on B4, that firm would seem more likely.

Note that Greenland's Atlantic Yards point man, Scott Solish, left to join Brodsky in early 2023.

What about the rest?

That might have been part of a larger effort. I wrote Aug. 1 regarding Greenland's unsuccessful 2023 proposal to supersize the project, adding some 1 million square feet at the other railyard sites:

That, [Hu] revealed, “led to the termination of a signed purchase and sale agreement for a future Platform vertical project”—with an unnamed developer, though Related’s a plausible bet—"and caused substantial financial losses to Greenland.

I wrote that before I learned of the B5 partnership. 

While Related remains plausible partner under that scenario, a better bet for the full railyard project would've been that B5 partner, given that work on railyard infrastructure for B5 would require coordination with whatever firm would build on adjacent sites.

What about Site 5?

Greenland has proposed--well, it was essentially approved in 2021 by ESD--to move the bulk from the unbuilt flagship tower (B1), once slated to loom over the arena, across Flatbush Avenue to Site 5, longtime home of the big-box stores P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell's.

That would enable two towers, one 910 feet and the other 450 feet, far larger than the 250-foot tower approved in 2006 and both taller and bulkier than the 785-foot and 383-foot towers floated in 2015-16.

Unofficial rendering

Greenland is “working on bringing in a development partner” for Site 5, a state official said at a meeting earlier this month of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC).

In other words, Greenland has the buildable square footage--well, not completely, not until ESD approves the transfer, which requires public hearings and could take a year--but not the capacity to build.

So a more active developer likely would do the lion's share. Could that be Brodsky or TF Cornerstone? Don't rule it out.