With short-notice Atlantic Yards CDC meeting scheduled for Thursday, is update coming on new "permitted developers"? Will "Community Engagement" start?

In August, state officials said they had extended the suspension of enforcement and even accrual of $1.75 million a month in liquidated damages for 876 unbuilt affordable housing units, as they were waiting for a new permitted developer to emerge.

Officials at Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, said they were aiming for September. That didn't happen. 

However, a newly scheduled meeting of the (purportedly) advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) suggests that something is happening, with updates on an expected new development team and plans for "Community Engagement."

Little transparency 

The Agenda

The meeting, to be held Thursday, Oct. 9, at 3 pm in Brooklyn, was announced in a press release at 2:56 pm today, with barely three business days notice--and two days to RSVP and/or file comments on the Agenda. 

The Agenda was posted a bit later this afternoon. As per typical, it's not very illuminating. Board materials, of course, aren't posted yet, and likely won't be until after the deadline to submit comments.

So, typically, informed commentary requires clairvoyance.

That, of course, suggests that ESD is not exactly inviting scrutiny.

Two years ago, Reinvent Albany's Elizabeth Marcello produced an "Open ESD" report noting that ESD often posts Agenda materials less than 24 hours before comments are due. 

The report recommended:

ESD should provide all materials for Board meetings at least three days in advance of Board meetings so the public can meaningfully comment on agenda items. Any budget or tabular data should be provided in an open, machine-readable format.

The details

The meeting will Thursday, October 9 at 3 pm at the Shirley A. Chisholm State Office Building, 55 Hanson Place – 3rd Floor Conference Room, Brooklyn.

Due to purported building procedures, members of the public attending in-person should RSVP by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 8. Members of the press should call (800) 260-7313; Members of the public should call (212) 803-3795.

Also, the public may listen to the meeting via webcast by clicking here.

Members of the public may submit comments on the Agenda items in writing to AYCDCBdMtg@esd.ny.gov by 3 pm on Wednesday, October 8.

What's up? 

So a joint venture led by Cirrus Real Estate Partners/Cirrus Workforce Housing, a funding entity, and developer LCOR seems likely to not only pursue development of the six parcels (B5-B10) over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) two-block Vanderbilt Yard, but also Site 5, the parcel across Flatbush Avenue catercorner to the arena, as I reported in August.

It's likely any new developer would want to change the configuration, increasing the project bulk. 

Cirrus and LCOR would be in charge, with the other entities passive partners. Those include an affiliate of the U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF), which organized Chinese investors under the EB-5 investor visa program, and Fortress Investment Group, a frequent USIF collaborator, at least for the railyard parcels.

Greenland USA, which took over as master developer from original developer Forest City Ratner, [updated] would have a role in the railyard sites, and would still have a stake in the Site 5 parcel catercorner to the arena, to which developers have long sought to move the bulk of the unbuilt B1 tower, once slated to loom over the arena.

(Fortress and USIF aren't involved in B1 and Site 5.)

Of course, it's hardly clear why ESD would let Greenland reap value from its Site 5/B1 property without holding it accountable for the failure to build affordable housing. Yes, ESD has said it wants to avoid litigation, but I think the state has far more leverage than it acknowledges.

"Community Engagement"

As I wrote in August, ESD has hired a consultant, Karp Strategies, which started seeking input from AY CDC Directors about how to understand community sentiment.

Though Karp was hired with the expectation of launching such public meetings in September, it would have to wait until at least October, I wrote back then. Does this mean such engagement starts soon?

It's unclear whether and how much the contours of the developer's plan would be available, though surely a revision of project scope and timeline, with new promises of public benefits, would be crucial to assess.