Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Draft Community Engagement Report Backs (!?) Developers' Aim to Downplay Low-Income Housing ( link ) Other findings are mostly predictable, as key info was withheld (despite transparency claim). Was online survey representative? Respondents mostly white and well-off.

So, are any of the various "Brooklyn Ascending" ownership entities--ten of which are apparently part of the Atlantic Yards deal, as I wrote --involved in any property transactions? Yes, indeed, according to the city's Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) database, with transactions involving the parcels on the Vanderbilt Yard. From REO to Mezz For example, one recent  document  memorializes a transfer from Brooklyn Ascending REO JV to Brooklyn Ascending Mezz.  REO JV, the grantor/seller, may involve the U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF) and Fortress Investment Group, which held collateral to six railyard (B5-B10) sites after developer Greenland USA defaulted on loans from immigrant investors under the EB-5 investor visa program. That default led to a foreclosure, with Cirrus Workforce Housing ultimately taking over financial control of the project, with a USIF affiliate and Fortress remaining passive partners. The grantee/buyer, Brooklyn Ascending Mezz, likely re...

I recently wrote : Does anyone, outside of the principals, know the ownership stakes in Brooklyn Ascending Land Co., LLC, the legal entity that apparently owns Atlantic Yards while the “permitted developer,” a team involving funder Cirrus Workforce Housing and the development company LCOR, steer the project? Well, I haven't been able to drill down on that. But I have found, in both New York State and Delaware databases, a good number of entities that seem to have a role in the project. In New York A search of the Division of Corporations of New York State's Department of State turns up three limited liability companies (LLCs) with the name "Brooklyn Ascending" as part of their name. (For the purpose of acronym avoidance, I'm cutting "LLC" from their formal names.) Well, Brooklyn Ascending Developer (formed 5/8/25) and Brooklyn Ascending Site 5 Developer (formed 9/9/25)  are both domestic limited liability companies (LLCs). They're represented by the...

Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, we learned yesterday, finally has the expected new development team, with a new deadline to develop an agreement and some limited payments to the state. But deep questions remain about the contours of the remaining project and how an expensive platform would be paid for, much less details regarding that development team or future oversight and guarantees. We do know, however, that the new joint venture has the backing, and pension fund money, from building trades unions, who surely will supply "build it now" testimony at public hearings.  It also has official endorsement-- sans any publicly announced plans about timing, scope, and public concessions regarding the expected eight towers, infrastructure, and affordable units--from Empire State Development (ESD), the gubernatorially controlled state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. Despite ESD denials, surely such plans have been discussed privately, because only assurances of state supp...

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 ...

I wrote in May ( link ) that Cirrus Workforce Housing Advisors, the new firm with support from unions for a new joint venture to develop six Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park railyard sites now facing foreclosure, was charging ahead. In Cirrus's first-ever lobbying report , filed with New York State's Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government and covering March-April 2025, the company disclosed that it was not simply aiming to take over the development sites (B5-B10) from master developer Greenland USA under current parameters. Rather, as the joint venture seeks to acquire those sites through foreclosure, it likely aims to sweeten the deal to build six large towers, which require an expensive platform over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Vanderbilt Yard, used to store and service Long Island Rail Road trains. Cirrus disclosed that its lobbying subjects include: A tax abatement State funding State entitlements And guess what: Cirrus's latest report, for Ju...

Yesterday, funding company Cirrus and developer LCOR--the collaboration expected to lead a joint venture to develop most if not all the rest of the Atlantic Yards site--got a big boost from New York City. The press release,  Most Pro-Housing Administration in City History: Mayor Adams, NYCEDC Kick Off Housing Week by Unveiling Ambitious Plan to Transform Former Flushing Airport Into 3,000 New Homes  announced a " sweeping proposal to build approximately 3,000 homes and 60 acres of public space on the site of the former Flushing Airport in College Point, Queens. "The development — led by New York City-based firms Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR Incorporated — is projected to generate $3.2 billion in economic activity over the next 30 years, creating over 1,300 union constructions job and 530 permanent career," it states. While there was a competitive RFP process, its not unlikely Cirrus--which signed a  "historic partnership"  with labor unions and their pensi...

I wrote July 11 ( link ) that Cirrus Real Estate Partners, which is expected to lead a pending joint venture to develop the rest of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, has not only used its own staff to lobby, but last month hired the major lobbying firm Bolton-St. Johns. Cirrus's reports  on state lobbying, from March through June, indicate--as I've previously reported --that it has lobbied Attorney General Letitia James, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, state Sen. Jabari Brisport, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and various ESD executives, regarding state land use, entitlements, and tax abatements. Those are key to the finances of the future project. Cirrus's lobbying report to New York City indicates that, in March-April, its staffers lobbied three people in the Mayor's office (Senior Advisor Nate Bliss, Seth Bynum, Leila Bozorg), Comptroller Brad Lander, Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and Council Members Shahana Hanif and Crystal Hudson. That clearly was related to Atlantic...

So Empire State Development (ESD)  has released the Agenda for the July 15 meeting of the purportedly advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), and the scope is beyond what I suspected when I initially wrote about it. While ESD, the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, may (as I suspect) announce that it has approved a permitted developer for at least the railyard development parcels--a joint venture involving Cirrus Real Estate and others--it also will discuss "Public Engagement Process Planning, as shown in the screenshot at right. That sounds like the outline to a process, aiming to find a way to ensure legitimacy to a project that now faces widely embedded skepticism.  AY CDC Director Gib Veconi had previously asked, backed by a board majority, to request a review of the scope before it's finalized. (Note that the meeting is at 3 pm, not 3:30 pm, as initially stated.) Also, as explained below, Cirrus has ramped up lobbying with s...

We hear a lot now about "abundance" and the belief that the city must do anything to get more housing. It's a real problem--well, it's a regional problem that should be addressed with better state and tri-state leadership--but we shouldn't turn off our skepticism. Resorts World promotion For example, I recently got sponsored emails from two political publications, PoliticsNY.com (the Schneps Media politics vertical) and City & State, both with the subject line "Resorts World is Delivering Workforce Housing for New Yorkers, Starting Now!" The City & State message stated: Resorts World New York City is committed to addressing the housing crisis everyday working New Yorkers face today. To help solve the crisis, Resorts World New York City has formed a joint venture with Cirrus Workforce Housing to  invest in 50,000 units of workforce housing across the five boroughs. This pact represents a major investment from Resorts World New York City, the sing...

This bears watching, as Atlantic Yards-adjacent, maybe more, as it involves the company and unions already allied on Atlantic Yards, gaining a large new partner. According to a May 15 press release ( link ) from Resorts World New York City: More than 150 members of the organized labor movement and leadership from Cirrus Workforce Housing today joined with Resorts World New York City to unveil a groundbreaking agreement to build up to 50,000 units of workforce housing across the five boroughs. This pact represents a major investment from Resorts World New York City, the single-largest employer of Hotel and Gaming Trades Council members, and organized labor to address the Big Apple’s growing shortage of working-class housing. The details of the agreement were not made public, including the solidity of the commitment and the precise range of "workforce" housing.  The phrasing "up to 50,000 units" leaves much wiggle room. Atlantic Yards watchers know that such promises ...