Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

This is the fifth among multiple posts concerning the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Quality of Life meeting Tuesday 10/9/18, held at 55 Hanson Place and sponsored by Empire State Development (ESD). The  first post  concerned the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation; the  second post  was about work in the Vanderbilt Yard; the  third post  concerned contracts for future project monitors; the fourth post concerned plans for the B4 tower at the northeast corner of the arena block. I wasn't able to attend but am relying on an audiotape of the meeting. Greenland USA project manager Scott Solish said his firm was were "proud to be be partnering" with developers TF Cornerstone and The Brodsky Organization , which were "ideal partners" with "deep roots in New York City." Unmentioned were the terms of the deals that Greenland Forest City Partners--controlled since June 95% going forward by Greenland USA--struck with the two family-owned firms. ...

A post 1/16/18 on the pro-development blog New York YIMBY, accompanying a new rendering of the fully built-out Pacific Park project and highlighting the giant tower planned for Site 5, declared that "all of the structures are within the allowable existing scope of the site." Not so. Unwitting readers of New York YIMBY might think developer Greenland Forest City Partners--to be owned 95% by Greenland USA going forward--could just build when it's got the money (and, in the case of Site 5, when legal challenges from P.C. Richard that delay condemnation are resolved). But building a giant project at Site 5, potentially two towers and 785 feet , requires Empire State Development to approve a shift in bulk from the unbuilt office tower (B1, aka "Miss Brooklyn") over the arena plaza. And that process hasn't begun. (Both I and resident Peter Krashes posted comments to that effect, which were published, yet the post wasn't corrected.) In 20...

It's an opportune time, indeed, for the Real Deal (via Konrad Putzier) to ask, Is Pacific Park in trouble again? , subtitled "Brooklyn’s biggest development has been plagued by internal and external woes over the year and a half." Some of the evidence is partial, but it adds up to clouds, at the very least. Some evidence is more clear. The project is clearly behind schedule, since two towers, 615 Dean (B12) and 664 Pacific (B15) have been announced but not launched. The effort to market stakes in three construction sites (B12, B13, B3) has gotten nowhere, as I recently reported . (TRD merely said that Forest City "did not confirm" whether or not the joint venture had found a partner.) Forest City New York recently suffered layoffs , unmentioned in this article. Forest City--the sole owner of 461 Dean, while the joint venture is a partner in other built/pending towers--has been forced to offer discounts on rent at the latter building. And sales have slowed ...

I missed this 12/28/16 end-of-year wrap-up by Curbed, which had a quote from Forest City Ratner CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, "[o]n realizing a Brooklyn megaproject in 2016." Her statement: “Pacific Park may have had the longest beginning of any project in city history, and no one, including us, could have anticipated how this project would f undamentally transform Brooklyn . 2016 was certainly a banner year for the project. Six Pacific Park properties are now under construction , and our affordable housing lotteries attracted tens of thousands of applicants. Last month, 461 Dean became Pacific Park’s first residential property to open. After a decade of planning and building, it would be hard to overstate the emotions we feel that families now call Pacific Park home.” “We knew there was an affordable housing crisis in Brooklyn, but we were floored by the number of applicants we received for below market-rate units at Pacific Park. Over 84,000 applicants applied for 181 uni...

This is the first of a few articles based on the 1/24/17 Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park meeting. Three towers in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project are either open or about to open. “We're in serious finishing-up-buildings mode,” said Forest City Ratner executive Ashley Cotton last night at the bi-monthly Quality of Life (formerly Community Update) meeting, held at 55 Hanson Place. But some details around them remain fuzzy, as do projections regarding the rest of the buildout. I asked if 2025--a date set in 2014 a deadline for the 2250 units of affordable housing, among 6,430 total apartments--remained a realistic date to complete the full project. Yes, replied Cotton. Despite what Forest City Realty Trust executives said in November—after disclosing unspecified delays—about the financial horizon for the project lasting to 2035? Yes, she said. That’s just not credible. My October 2016 annotation of an August 2014 tentative schedule 461 Dean (B2) Move-ins ...

View looking north from Dean Street building Last week, I expressed skepticism about Pacific Park project director Susi Yu saying , regarding the delayed B12 condo site (aka 615 Dean) next to the 550 Vanderbilt tower, "We actually put the footings in to preserve our 421-a benefit." But did they really commence construction on 615 Dean to preserve that lucrative tax break? The 421-a law  says "'commence' shall mean the date upon which excavation and construction of initial footings and foundations lawfully begins in good faith ." (Emphases added) I showed photos that looked like pretty general excavation, plus a few vertical "knobs" and a white horizontal installation that might be classified as footings. What the Construction Updates say A close look at the official  Construction Updates  shows that the work on B12, first announced 12/21/15  update, almost exclusively involves excavation and the clearing of soil. However, th...

So, Forest City Ratner Pacific Park project director Susi Yu told the Commercial Observer, regarding the  delayed   B12 condo site (aka 615 Dean) next to the 550 Vanderbilt tower, "We actually put the footings in to preserve our 421-a benefit." In other words, only by starting construction of this building--which was introduced to the public in September 2015 as 615 Dean and is among three sites  for sale --could developers Greenland Forest City Partners preserve a lucrative tax break. But what does starting construction--a common tactic for developers-- mean? As stated in the 421-a law : "'commence' shall mean the date upon which excavation and construction of initial footings and foundations lawfully begins in good faith." The building does have permits , granted in September 2015, for foundation work and support of excavation work, among others. But, as shown in the photos below, the work looks mostly like pretty general excavation. Unless the...

As market-rate apartment inventory increases, maybe it makes sense to wait to build luxury condos. The Wall Street Journal reported 7/24/16, New York City’s Market-Rate Rental Inventory Set to Swell : Over the next three years, more than 38,000 market-rate rental apartments—mostly in Brooklyn and Queens—are expected to be completed, with 14,686 of them added this year, according to Ten-X, an online real-estate company. The company estimates another 17,044 new apartments will be completed in 2017, marking a new high. The last peak came in 2001 when about 5,500 units were added. So, waiting to time the market may be (one of the reasons) why some Pacific Park buildings are delayed? The 8/11/16 Wall Street Journal followed on the same theme,  As Rental Supply Grows, Landlords Negotiate , subtitled "Manhattan vacancy rates are up, as are deals that include concessions." That also affects Brooklyn: For example, [marketing consultant Nancy Packes] said, several large renta...

So how much money is being spent on layers and consultants for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park by Empire State Development, the state authority overseeing/shepherding the project? A lot. And it's all paid for by the developer. According to 6/23/16 ESD Board Materials , which include Consolidated Financial Statements and Independent Auditors' Report for the years ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the total spending on Atlantic Yards neared $46 million, with the consultant AKRF, which produced environmental review documents, at $7.4 million, environmental monitor HDR at $3.2 million, and owner's rep STV at $3.5 million. Among law firms, Skadden Arps, which hasn't been involved for a while but defended the early stage of the eminent domain cases, earned $9.5 million; Bryan Cave, which defended eminent domain and environmental litigation; earned $9.3 million, and Berger and Webb, which pursued condemnation and also defended challenges to project approvals, earned $13.3 million...

Also see architect Josh Chaiken's presentation ( link ) March 15, 2016. At the periodic Community Update meeting Wednesday night, Greenland Forest City Partners unveiled the design for the B-12 tower, 615 Dean Street, one building in from the 550 Vanderbilt tower at the southeast corner of the site, which is Vanderbilt Avenue and Dean Street. Notably, 615 Dean is the tallest but not the bulkiest building among the four on the southeast block, rising 278 feet (the maximum height is 287 feet, so we'll see if that's met) and encompassing 321,000 gross square feet, including two retail spaces ofr 4,000 and 1,000 sf. (The maximum square footage is 317,185, but some flexibility is allowed as long as total is capped.) Via New York YIMBY By contrast, the 550 Vanderbilt condo tower maxes at 202 feet and 330,778 square feet, and the 535 Carlton affordable rental tower, at the corner of Carlton Avenue and Dean Street, maxes at 184 feet and 283,971 sf. Notably, 615 Dean Str...

We hear a lot about the 100% affordable building (B3) coming at the corner of Dean Street and Sixth Avenue, set to launch in June. But Greenland Forest City Partners is also building a 100% market (aka unaffordable, at least to the people who clamored for affordable) condo building at the same time, located between Dean and Pacific streets one site west of Vanderbilt Avenue. The site is B12, and the address is 615 Pacific Street. And, at 26 stories and 278 feet, it's a lot larger than the adjacent 202-foot tall condo tower  (B11) at the corner of Dean Street and Vanderbilt promoted as "Everything you love about Brooklyn." No rendering has been released. The Real Deal had the scoop, Pacific Park is getting a new 26-story resi tower: Permits filed for 244-unit project at 615 Dean Street : Greenland Forest City Ratner Partners is preparing to put up another building, a 26-story residential tower, in the Pacific Park megadevelopment, according to a permit applicatio...