Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Photo: March 27 As I reported ( link ), the Pacific Park Conservancy, which oversees the 2.7 acres of open space on the southeast block of the project, was said--as of the March 25, 2025 meeting of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC)--to have made some improvements. To improve oversight and maintenance, the Conservancy has hired Streetplus , a Brooklyn-based company that works at Union Square Park, Madison Square Park, and other locations. That was according to Anna Pycior of Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. Photo: April 25 Some change From what I can observe, Streetplus, with blue-suited workers in uniforms indicating Pacific Park Conservancy and "Clean Ambassador" (see photo at left) and Safety Ambassador," has made some improvements.  For example, as shown above right, in March one of the entrance pillars to "Pacific Park" was marred by a glued-on poster. Less than a m...

As of last August, as I reported ( link ), the Barclays Center saw its event business rebound, as tickets revenues in Fiscal Year 2024 (ending June 30) increased nearly 80% compared to FY 2023. That trend looks to continue, modestly, according to recent reports to bondholders.  The arena operating company recorded $10 million in suite and sponsor installments and $57.4 million in ticket sales in the second quarter of FY 2025 (or the last quarter of calendar year 2024). That compared to $4.2 million and $56.2 million in the comparable quarter in FY 2024. The arena had $2.1 million in suite and sponsor installments and $51.1 million in ticket sales in the third quarter of FY 2025. That compared to $10.6 million and $47.5 million in the comparable quarter in FY 2024. So ticket sales are up modestly, while suite and sponsor installments are slightly down in these two quarters.  Note that, in the first quarter of the fiscal year, the arena reported $5.4 million in suite and s...

Last week, the updated 2025 New York City Area Median Income (AMI) surfaced on the website ( link ) of the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), with an increase of 4.3% over 2024 figures . For example, a four-person moderate-income household, at 100% of AMI, could earn up to $162,000, up from $155,300. A single person could earn $113,400. Screenshot from HPD. Annotation - household size The 2024 figures represented an astounding rise of nearly 10% over 2023, with a four-person household at 100% of AMI earning $141,200. (It was $83,900 in 2014!)  Under 2025 figures, a building with units at 130% of AMI--if grandfathered in under the old 421-a tax break--could rent to individuals earning up to $147,420. Keep in mind that AMI depends on better-off suburban counties and, especially, the High Housing Cost Adjustment (HHCA), which ANHD, the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, calls "a convoluted step" in the calculations of the federal...

So the real-estate publication Brick Underground offers a series called  The Newcomers , which recently published  Why we moved from London to NYC: We always wanted to live abroad and fell in love with Brooklyn . Or, more specifically, Prospect Heights and environs. After all, "Brooklyn" is too big to generalize about. Similarly, they say, "You see so much bad press and comments online about New York not being safe, but we have never felt unsafe here."  Well, duh, they're in a pretty safe neighborhood! Londoners Ian and Helen, who work in private equity, rent a $5,030 (with one month free) one-bedroom at 595 Dean Street, the new TF Cornerstone development in the southeast block of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. They chose the location for its transportation options to Manhattan, "nice bars and restaurants," and "real neighborhood feel." They love the building's amenities. (Extra fee, right?) About the bar "We really wanted a nice neigh...

Updated 4 pm : I got the following statement from Empire State Development (ESD), which asserts that my initial conclusion, based on a secondhand statement, was incorrect: ESD had not approached additional entities to step into the project, including Related. Greenland USA has and as of today remains to be the developer of the Atlantic Yards project pursuant to the project documents. For USIF to pursue foreclosure proceedings given Greenland’s EB-5 default, the project documents require ESD to approve an entity as a permitted developer. USIF had presented a JV including Related, Fortress, and themselves as a permitted developer, but opted not to proceed. As discussed at the April [March, actually] 2025 AYCDC meeting, we have communicated timelines and milestone expectations to relevant parties regarding advancing the project and the collection of liquidated damages. --- We don't know why Related Companies, the developer of Hudson Yards, pulled out of a contemplated joint venture to...

Ranking the Eight Atlantic Yards Towers, By Entrance ( link ) Some choices are thoughtful, others baffling, even craven. Placemaking is inconsistent. Part of a more in-depth assessment.

In 2017, President Donald Trump raised what the New York Times called a "staggering $107 million" for his inaugural committee. Among that was  $100,000 from Nicholas A. Mastroianni III, whose father, Nicholas Mastroianni II, founded the United States Immigration Fund (USIF), the country's biggest firm recruiting immigrant investors under the EB-5 visa program, which grants low-cost loans to developers in exchange for purportedly job-creating investments. Well, Trump just raised $239 million for his recent inauguration, well more than double the previous record total. "About 140 different people or companies gave at least $1 million to the effort, including blue-chip companies like JPMorgan Chase, Delta Air Lines and Target," according to the Times. Giving $500,000 was Mastroianni II, who has long supported Trump and surely would like a connection to the White House. Today, Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is at a crossroads, as the "lender"--er, creditor...

Weekly Digest: Why the EB-5 (Investor Visa) Loan Transactions Need Flowcharts ( link ) It's complicated! Also, the arena company says it's "reshaping the neighborhood." No, not with the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan.

Photos: Norman Oder You gotta respect the hustle--the mutual hustle.  Located on leafy Carlton Avenue an eight-minute walk--but a conceptual distance--from the Barclays Center,  Gertrude' s is a "neighborhood bar & restaurant, inspired by our shared love for iconic New York restaurants, Jew-ish cuisine and the vibrant atmosphere found in European bistros." It's relatively small, and it sure isn't a sports bar. Gertrude's uses the kind of gentrification signage and typeface that some find charming and others find precious. A collaboration But it was in the mutual interest of the Brooklyn Nets and Gertrude's social media savvy management to have two Nets, Jalen Wilson and Noah Clowney, "create," with the help of more experienced kitchen hands, "a classic American smash burger, and a fried chicken sandwich" for a one-night only promotion on Monday, April 7. Curiously enough, as shown in the sign at right, Gertrude's Monday night ...

Who's the "Lender"/Creditor Now? Who Controls the EB-5 Loan Collateral? ( link ) The future of six development sites relies on murky transactions involving the developers, immigrant investors, the U.S. Immigration Fund, & Fortress Investment Group.  Thanks to Ben Keel for the five flowcharts. But you'll have to click through to understand them.

On March 27, the City Council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a hearing on the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan (AAMUP), which could  deliver 4,600 new apartments , including 1,440 affordable units, plus job-creating space, street improvements, and city investments in Central Brooklyn. However, as foreshadowed in my coverage of the discussion at the City Planning Commission and later the CPC's approval vote , Council Member Crystal Hudson, the key decisionmaker, as well as other major stakeholders--Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Borough President Antonio Reynoso--would like to see more affordability and required space for jobs in light industry and the arts. Hudson, at the hearing, pressed city officials on why they were only including an incentive, not a requirement, for such job-creating space. The Department of City Planning's (DCP) Alex Sommer said they'd "heard loud and clearly that it needs to go above and beyond what's currently proposed,...

Recently added to the BSE Global roster of brands is "One Hanson Place," ( link ) which is what they're calling the retail/events condo space in the base of the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower just north of the Atlantic Terminal mall, a short walk from the Barclays Center. For now, they're renting it out for events--it's a stunning space--while they "develop an exciting concept for the space." (Maybe a market?) It had previously been rented to the Brooklyn Flea, among other event producers. While one owner paid $18 million for the space--the equivalent of two floors--in 2018, BSE Global paid almost $10.3 million, as reported in November. Naming rights Screenshot from BSE Global Note: it's the Williamsburgh Savings Bank , not Williamsburg, despite what's stated on the new web site, because the bank retained the old spelling . And while BSE Global says it's acquired "One Hanson Place," that name has long been claimed by the c...

A year ago, I wrote ( link ) that, for the first time since news emerged in February 2022 ( link ) that a Savage X lingerie store from Rihanna would open in the long-dormant Triangle Building across from the Barclays Center--as prime a retail location as you could imagine-- there was evidence of the brand's presence. Photo: Norman Oder, April 2024 The building, bordered by Flatbush Avenue, Fifth Avenue, and Dean Street, was then draped in advertising for Rihanna's new Signature Script collection. That, however, did not mean the store would arrive. After all, there were no longer any Department of Buildings permits affixed to the building, and no new DOB permits had been sought since October 2020. Indeed, as I just learned, those signs were apparently installed without permission, and violated signage rules, prompting more than $100,000 in cumulative fines . A hearing date is scheduled for July. Photos: Norman Oder, April 14, 2025 The building also faces a  boiler violation  a...