Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

As Atlantic Yards plans percolate, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversee/shepherds the project, has now signed its third consultant and second law firm. As previously reported, ESD  approved  a $2 million-plus contract with consultant AKRF to prepare the planned Second Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SSEIS) needed to consider proposed project modifications. ESD in February  approved  extension of a contract, up to $500,000. with the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, to advise on land use and environmental issues, including the SSEIS. A new contract And on March 26 ESD  approved  a new two-year contract , up to $750,000, with the law firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn for help in drafting the emerging deal with developers Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR. "Legal services relating to negotiating and drafting modified and/or new Project documents will be needed as ESD and the new development team move forward with Ph...

Sometime in the last day, with barely enough time to post public comment by today's deadline of 3 pm , Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards, released the agenda for tomorrow's meeting of the purportedly advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC). The directors will get an oral report on the Draft Community Engagement Report, regarding public input on the future of the project, that was issued a few days ago.  My critique is here:  Draft Community Engagement Report Backs (!?) Developers' Aim to Downplay Low-Income Housing . Executive session Also of note, the directors will go into executive session regarding "Negotiations with the Project Developer Regarding Memorandum of Understanding and Development of Property/Project." The presumably involves the developer's desire for $350 million in subsidies for the platform (as I reported ), its announced request for 1.6 million in additiona...

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.

As we wait for the Draft Community Engagement Report to be released ahead of the two meetings on March 19, first the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation and then a fourth public workshop, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. has posted the online survey questions as a document (also at bottom). Survey responses, as well as public responses at the three previous workshops, should inform the report. As I wrote Nov. 19, citing the excerpt below,  there’s been no proposal yet of an alternate way to deliver public benefits without acceding to the developer’s blueprint—or of third-party experts to vet the validity of the plans.  Since then, the lack of details--height of the buildings? rendering of the proposed plan? requested subsidies?--have been absent. So it's not likely that they'll be in the report, which may be issued today or tomorrow to allow for a minimal opportunity to digest and respond before the meetin...

About a month late , Empire State Development (ESD) has scheduled the fourth public workshop (of four) regarding the Atlantic Yards project on Thursday, March 19, at 6:30 pm, online. Register  here . Ahead of this meeting, though with the date unspecified, ESD will release on its website the Draft Community Engagement Report. The report summarizes key themes and insights from the first three public workshops and the online survey.  My bet is the report will be used to ratify the new developer's request for an additional 1.6 million square feet of bulk, worth perhaps $320 million, as needed to deliver promised open space and, as of now, unspecified amounts of below-market affordable housing. The Draft Report will be posted on the ESD website along with an online form for people to submit comments and feedback in advance of the workshop.  During the meeting, ESD will provide a brief presentation on the Draft Report, followed by a live, open Q&A session where attendees ...

Today, Empire State Development, the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, announced that the third workshop, of four, seeking public input on the future plan will be held Thursday, Jan. 22, from 6-7:30 pm on Zoom. Registration is here . Attendees can pre-submit up to two questions, with additional questions welcomed during the workshop.  Here are mine: What other large real estate projects in NYC have a density comparable to what's proposed (409 apts. & 875 people/acre)? Since not building the B1 tower & preserving the plaza helps arena operator BSE Global, can/will ESD seek any payment from BSE? B1 is the tower once slated to loom over the arena, but it was never built, leaving space for a "temporary plaza."  The developers, a joint venture led by Cirrus Workforce Housing and LCOR, seek to move the bulk of that unbuilt tower across Flatbush Avenue to Site 5, longtime home of the big-box stores P.C. Richard and the now-closed Modell's, creating...

The first of four public workshops on the future of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18 from 6-8 pm, covering the demanding topics of Density, Affordability, and Open Space, as I've written . Yesterday we learned that the second public workshop--and the last one in-person--will be held on Monday Dec. 8 from 6-8 pm, covering Streetscape and Public Realm, Sustainability and Resiliency, Community Serving Retail and Facilities. That's a tight schedule, especially since the incoming master developer, a joint venture involving Cirrus Real Estate Partners and LCOR, have yet to reveal any plans for the site and Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, has only released limited information. While the first workshop will be held at the former Modell's site, now the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, at 140 Flatbush Avenue across from the Barclays Center, the location for the second workshop is TBA. (The t...

Yesterday, with just two weeks' notice, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, announced the first of four public workshops purportedly aimed to share the future of the project, given a new development team for the half-completed project. It will be held across the street from the Barclays Center on Tuesday, November 18, from 6-8 pm, at the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, 140 Flatbush Avenue, in the former Modell's big-box store. Registration is  here . The meeting location, in fact, is part of Site 5 (with the currently occupied P.C. Richard), which is officially slated for a 250-foot, 440,000 square foot building, according to 2006 approvals, but has already gotten ESD support  for a giant, two-tower project, with one tower 910 feet and some 1.242 million square feet of bulk. (The Brooklyn Basketball Training Center is a temporary youth training facility run by BSE Global, parent of the Brooklyn Net...

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...

This is the fourth of four articles on the Aug. 6 meeting of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), which is supposed to advise the parent Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. The meeting was held at 55 Hanson Place in Brooklyn.  The first article concerned the state's suspension of affordable housing penalties. The second discussed why valuable Site 5 is key to the project. The third addressed whether Greenland has a case to protest the penalties. Given the widespread cynicism about ESD's unwillingness to pursue $1.752 million a month in penalties for missing affordable housing and the absence of a plan for the remaining project from the expected incoming development team(s), it was not the most auspicious time to discuss "Community Engagement": gaining input from neighbors and other interested parties about components of that future plan. Nevertheless, ESD has hired a consultant, Karp S...