Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

I've written before on the dubious marketing ( link ) of the EB-5 loans currently under foreclosure, as well as dubious contract language ( link ) that, at least initially, seemed to leave the middleman company--the U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF), a "regional center" that recruited investors--in control.  Now another company, Fortress Investment Group, may have control . It's all pretty murky. I also reported on allegations , never adjudicated, that a Chinese investor in "Atlantic Yards II"--the first of two loans organized by the USIF--never saw the actual documents, just the signature pages. That meant the investor didn't see the disclosure of significant red flags.  Each investor put up $500,000, with a total of $249 million raised. In the second loan, "Atlantic Yards III," a total of $100 million was raised. The only game in town? I took another look at the 2014 Offering Memorandum and saw another glaring red flag, on p. 4: U.S. Immigration F...

Weekly Digest: Does Atlantic Yards Just Need a "New Push"? ( link ) So the Barclays Center's getting a Brooklyn "bridge." Hmm. Plus: a bonus for readers.

So, the Brooklyn "ecosystem" being built by BSE Global--media, events, etc.--continues to expand.  Note the synergy between Brooklyn Magazine, aka BKMAG, and the Barclays Center. A March 27 article on the New York Liberty's new Greenpoint practice facility did, appropriately, credit the announcement to "BSE Global, the owner of the team (and, full disclosure, BKMAG)." It's the first time, as far as I can tell, that there's been any such disclosure.   Below the radar   Some other synergy is more below the radar. Posted under  Arts & Entertainment , rather than "Sponsored," BKMAG on March 14 offered  Win Two Tickets to See Katt Williams Live at Barclays Center , pointing readers to follow the publication on Instagram, comment, and sign up for the publication's weekly newsletter. (It didn't disclose that they all share the same owner.) Below is a screenshot of the Instagram post .  Similarly, on March 24 BKMAG offered Win Two Tickets ...

In the midst of a lousy season for the Brooklyn Nets, parent BSE Global has some positive news to share. Last week, it was a new practice facility for the New York Liberty. This week, it's the second phase of a five-year plan, announced in October 2024, to enhance the Barclays Center. (Both new announcements involve the architectural firm Populous.) The decision by owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai last year to sell a 15% stake in BSE Global to the Koch family (of right-wing notoriety), at an astonishing valuation, brought in $688 million, of which $192 million (as noted by NetsDaily) was earmarked for working capital. Gallagher Terrace As with the previous Toki Row and JetBlue at The Key, a good part of the new announcement is aimed at big-spending customers.  Gallagher Terrace (images via Barclays Center) Barclays Center’s Loge Boxes and sections of 40/40 Club, according to the press release, "will be reimagined as Gallagher Terrace, a 5,300 square-foot space capturing the ambi...

View south from Vanderbilt Ave.; Beer Street  South at corner, retail space at right past car Last April, I wrote ( link ) that retail space at 550 Vanderbilt (aka B11) once used as a construction field office and community liaison office was finally up for rent, after Greenland Forest City Partners, which built the tower, had finally sold the three retail condos--one subdivided--at the base of the building. I had suggested that that 2400-square-foot space might not be easy to rent, given that there's relatively little foot traffic west on that stump of demapped Pacific Street. (If and when the adjacent railyard is developed and the open space complete, it would become prime property.) Well, new signage indicates that part of the space--that closest to Vanderbilt Avenue--will by June become the new home of Prospect Heights Eastern Spa , a body work and foot reflexology spa long operated down Vanderbilt Avenue.  It'll be a spa. Photos: Norman Oder Yelp reviews describe it as a...

The lesson of my recent coverage of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is that the state officials who should know the most don't know much (or aren't telling), and the official advisory board hasn't been told. See: Brooklyn’s Stalled Atlantic Yards Plan Faces More Questions Than Answers  from City Limits  State officials say they expect a new developer to emerge. But without a new plan, will they pursue damages on June 1 for absent affordable housing? , from this blog The lesson from some other coverage and events is that other people know even less. Consider, as detailed below, an op-ed from a former state official, comments from one candidate for Brooklyn Borough President (though the incumbent had a better grasp), and a friendly interview with a city official who worked on the project. Blaming the NIMBYs It’s time for New Yorkers to embrace YIMBYism , wrote Elizabeth Fine, former counsel to Gov. Kathy Hochul and now principal of Liz Fine Advisory, wrote in Crain's New York...

Weekly Digest: Stalled Project Faces More Questions Than Answers ( link ) Penalties, or a new developer? We'll learn by May. Also, BSE Global picks Greenpoint for its New York Liberty practice facility.

This is the fifth of five articles on the March 25, 2025 meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), held at the office of its parent Empire State Development (ESD).  The  first  concerned the Pacific Park Conservancy. The  second  concerned making BSE Global pay for a permanent arena plaza. The  third  concerned the unusually large plan for Site 5. The fourth concerned the AY CDC budget. Please see coverage in City Limits, Brooklyn’s Stalled Atlantic Yards Plan Faces More Questions Than Answers , which includes the key information in the article but takes a bigger-picture perspective. This article covers more of the blow-by-blow discussion. With barely two months to go before $2,000/month damages are triggered for each of 876 missing affordable housing units in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, state representatives at the meeting seemed uncertain about whether they'd enforce the penalties or whether a new developer-...

This is the fourth of five articles on the March 25, 2025 meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), held at the office of its parent Empire State Development (ESD). The first concerned the Pacific Park Conservancy. The second concerned making BSE Global pay for a permanent arena plaza. The third concerned the unusually large plan for Site 5. The fifth concerned the project's future. The main reason for the meeting was to approve the annual $250,000 budget for the AY CDC. I had, in my preview , raised a question about who's paying: the answer was Greenland USA, which remains, nominally, the project's master developer, though it has been poised to lose the six railyard development sites to foreclosure. Presumably if/when Greenland loses those sites in foreclosure--but still keeps Site 5 and B1--the required payments would be shared among those with responsibility for the project. Other issues Directors pointed to a few issues raise...

This is the third of five articles on the March 25, 2025 meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), held at the office of its parent Empire State Development (ESD). The first concerned the Pacific Park Conservancy. The second concerned making BSE Global pay for a permanent arena plaza. The fourth concerned the AY CDC budget. The fifth concerned the project's future. AY CDC Director Ron Shiffman--veteran advocacy planner, Pratt academic, and former City Planning Commissioner--raised a question about Site 5, the parcel across Flatbush Avenue from the arena block long home to the big-box stores P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell's. Looking south at Site 5. Photo: Norman Oder It's slated for a far larger project , as of 2021, than previously planned: two towers, one 910 feet and the other 450 feet, thanks to a proposed shift of bulk from the unbuilt B1 tower, once slated to loom over the arena, and a total bulk of 1.242 million sq...

The Barclays Center yesterday released its April 2025 event calendar, with eleven ticketed events: five Brooklyn Nets games, five concerts, and one high-school all-star basketball game. That's an slight decline from April 2024, with twelve ticketed events, though still better than April 2023, with only eight ticketed events, The arena typically leaves a good fraction of dates in April and even May open for potential Brooklyn Nets playoff games, but the team has already been eliminated. A private event The arena no longer announces most private events , which disserves neighbors who should be told about potentially disruptive crowds.  But it does note events that serve the arena operator's interests. The calendar does note a "community convening event" on the morning of April 7. That turns out to be a free event, "Navigating the Changing Legal and Funding Landscape: Tools and Guidance for Brooklyn Nonprofits," presented by Brooklyn Org and the Social Justice...

Aiming to offer more amenities and compete for future talent--a locker room with players' "private suites," rooftop dining, and a childcare facility-- the New York Liberty yesterday announced ( link ) plans to build "an $80 million "state-of-the-art practice facility, spanning 75,000 square-feet, located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Newtown Creek and overlooking Manhattan’s iconic skyline."    From NY Liberty: helicopter view towards Greenpoint from Newtown Creek Well, it more overlooks Long Island City's impressive, if not quite iconic, skyline, as well as Greenpoint's also impressive-not-iconic skyline, as shown in images below. Looking west from Pulaski Bridge. Arrow =  approximate location. Photo: Norman Oder While the location wasn't specified, it's clear that the location is the northern tip of Manhattan Avenue, between Ash Street and Newtown Creek. Manhattan Avenue once led to the Vernon Avenue Bridge, but in 1954 was replaced by the P...