Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

A new development team is emerging to take over the remaining sites in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, including the six sites over the Vanderbilt Yard.  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has a key role, even though the project is overseen/shepherded by the (also) gubernatorially-controlled Empire State Development (ESD). According to Gib Veconi of BrooklynSpeaks, who's been partially briefed on the emerging plan, ESD is evaluating the proposal that has been made by a joint venture led by Cirrus Real Estate, "and has asked that Cirrus receive approval from the MTA by June 30.” I asked the MTA to clarify for me what needs to be approved: --the Cirrus joint venture's general qualifications to work with the MTA? --a plan to build the platform, including performance bonds, over the Vanderbilt Yard while preserving MTA/Long Island Rail Road operations? --a Cirrus takeover of the current payment plan for Vanderbilt Yard development rights? --a revised paym...

As I wrote May 12 ( link ), no one official seemed to take seriously the deadline that day to start the platform--which would support six towers--over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard. That meant a seemingly generous 15-year window was waved away. So it's worth going back to the June 24, 2009 renegotiation of the deal by original developer Forest City Ratner to buy development rights from the MTA over and in the three-block, 8.5-acre railyard. Notably, as explained below, a key MTA board member who defended the renegotiation suggested it was at no risk, because the state authority could always get the development rights back if nothing were built.  Not exactly. The reality today is that the set of transactions is more complex than discussed, and the state authority is not in line to get the development rights back, even though the deadline--set by a different state authority--has been breached and nothing's been built. Deal contours Instead of pa...

Something is cooking, contractually, regarding the development rights for the six towers (B5-B10) over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Vanderbilt Yard. In shorthand, I and others have typically described them as being held by the project's master developer, for now Greenland USA, which has since November 2023 seemed on the brink of losing them in foreclosure. That's because the Greenland entity that controls those development rights has failed to pay back $286 million in loans from immigrant investors under the EB-5 investor visa program, and the creditors for those loans were given those development rights as collateral. Indeed, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority, said last month, "Greenland USA has and as of today remains to be the developer of the Atlantic Yards project pursuant to the project documents." That raises a question, yet unresolved: will ESD enforce the project documents that require Greenland to pay $2,000/month ...

Yesterday, Zohran Mamdani, an Astoria/Long Island City-based New York State Assemblymember ( link ) and a Democratic candidate ( link ) in the 2025 mayoral primary who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, issued a call to "build 200,000 new, permanently affordable union built, rent stabilized homes over the next 10 years, tripling what we're currently set to build."  To do that, he said in the brief video below, "Any 100% affordable project gets fast tracked. No more pointless delays. We're gonna unleash the public sector, but we're still going to need more housing. That means taller buildings near subway stations, upzoning wealthy neighborhoods, and eliminating the requirement to build parking lots." Today I'm announcing a plan to unleash the public sector and build the housing we desperately need. As Mayor, I will triple New York City's production of permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes, constructing 200,000 new units ove...

At a meeting last Sept. 26, a representative of Empire State Development, the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, said something curious. "We understand that the MTA [Metropolitan Transportation] has been paid for the outstanding air rights obligation for the platform portion of the project," said Anna Pycior, ESD's Senior VP, Community Relations. Who paid went unspecified. Was it master developer Greenland USA, which was losing rights to build giant towers at the six railyard parcels in a foreclosure? (It borrowed $349 million, in two tranches, from immigrant investors in the EB-5 investor visa program, and has about $286 million delinquent.) Was it Related Companies, the giant developer, known for building Hudson Yards in Manhattan, that's part of a pending joint venture to develop the six railyard sites, which require an expensive platform?  That seemed unlikely, given that they weren't formally part of the project yet. (Nor are they formally ...

Yes, this is a very niche topic, but a recent fact-checking exercise prompted me to explore the question: how big is/was the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's three-block Vanderbilt Yard, used to store and service Long Island Rail Road trains and, years ago, store obsolete MTA buses? Was it 8.5 acres, a shorthand I've typically used and which I've seen in various   press reports? What about 8.3 acres, according to a  2005 report  and a  2009 report  from the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO)? Or was it "approximately nine acres," as estimated in numerous documents from Empire State Development (ESD, fka Empire State Development Corporation), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project? Was it 8.6 acres, as seen in one  academic study ? Via NoLandGrab How about 8.4 acres, the figure used by Wikipedia (without a footnote), and some press coverage ? Drilling down Well, the latter answer is closest to accuracy.   Thank...

This is the first of two articles about the meeting yesterday ( link ) of the advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development (AY CDC). held at offices of the parent Empire State Development (ESD) in Manhattan. The second concerns the future of Site 5. At the  little-publicized  AY CDC meeting yesterday, an executive at ESD, the state authority that oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, offered the first hint that the six railyard development sites (B5-B10), encompassing nearly 3.5 million square feet but which are now in foreclosure, may have interest from a developer. But details were scarce, including the name of the company and whether and how much ESD would accommodate changes in project requirements to make it a deal more attractive. For example, would it  enforce or waive/delay $2,000/month fines for the 876 affordable housing units supposed to be completed by May 2025?  Also, how much would a new developer, taking over those sites from Greenland USA,...

As I've written, the foreclosure auction of developer Greenland USA's interest in six development sites over the Vanderbilt Yard has been postponed twice, most recently until April 30 . It's likely to be postponed again. After all, there are a lot of complications, including a winning bidder's obligation to comply with project requirements--or to evade them--regarding affordable housing liquidated damages, and more. That likely involves negotiation with Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversee/shepherds the project. And yesterday, ESD reps said no developer has surfaced. If a bidder does emerge, it's also worth looking at the conditions imposed by ESD on such a transfer. One unit, or two? First, note that, while the six development sites might be seen as a unit, they represent two separate auctions: one for the sites B5-B8, the collateral for the $249 million "Atlantic Yards II," and another for B9-B10, the collateral for the $100 m...

Bill Perkins, a force in Harlem politics, is dead at 74; ‘Harlem has lost a giant,’ says Mayor Adams , the New York Daily News reported yesterday: Bill Perkins, a hard-charging, reform-minded city and state lawmaker who championed equality in health care and criminal justice as an energetic force in Harlem politics across three decades, died Monday night in his home. He was 74. ...As he rose in politics, Perkins emerged as an outspoken progressive — a supporter of the Central Park 5, an early voice against the Iraq War and a backer of LGBTQ rights. He had an acute focus on health care, and was a leading voice in the passage of lead-paint inspection laws. None of the articles--including more extensive coverage in Harlem's Amsterdam News--addressed a memorable set of 2010 hearings state Sen. Parkins,  distrustful of Columbia University's expansion into Harlem, held on eminent domain. The Amsterdam News did quote what might have been a previous Perkins bio note: "As Chairma...

Photo: Dec. 31 On Saturday, December 30, a driver mysteriously accelerated an Audi SUV across Vanderbilt Avenue from the McDonald's lot between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street and breached the concrete barrier and fence guarding the below-grade Vanderbilt Yard, The vehicle plunged some 30 feet into the working railyard, used to store and service Long Island Rail Road trains. The driver died and the passenger was severely injured, and a chunk of the barrier was pushed to the railyard floor. The vehicle had a record of driving violations.  The car is an Audi with plates JAV2515. One person died and the other critical, sources say pic.twitter.com/DDXHrll7Tf — Julianne Cuba (@Julcuba) December 30, 2022 Streetsblog's Julianne Cuba reported 12/30/22 that the vehicle might have been going 40 miles per hour. Photo: Dec. 31 Though witnesses said the driver raced across Vanderbilt, police, according to Streetsblog, were willing to attribute it to a “medical episode” or a “frea...

Gotham Gazette yesterday published a worthwhile and intriguing article,  What Happened to the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan? , following up on the official silence toward the March 2020 release, by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, of "an ambitious $14 billion infrastructure project that would deck the 180-acre rail yard in Queens and effectively create a new community with thousands of affordable homes and dozens of acres of green and public space situated atop a new regional rail hub." That's a tall order. Consider that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Vanderbilt Yard in Brooklyn, key to the buildout of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, is 8.5 acres, and the delays in creating the Vanderbilt Yard platform But it does offer a huge opportunity, including connecting regional rail with the subway system.  Today, the yard is owned jointly by Amtrak (142 acres), the MTA (31 acres), and General Motors (7 acres), according to the New York City Economic D...

The most important news, in my view , from last night's appearance of a Greenland USA executive at a meeting of the North Prospect Heights Association regarded the timetable for construction of the first phase of the platform, the first tower (B5), and the question marks over the remaining project. But Scott Solish was there to talk to the project's immediate neighbors about the significant changes to traffic and pedestrian flow from the establishment of construction fences around the perimeter of the first block of the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street, and Sixth and Carlton avenues. This could last three years. Both topics likely will be amplified at tonight's public, online  Quality of Life meeting , hosted at 6 pm by Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. Another close-up view of Block 1120 was also shown; see below Solish, the head of development for Greenland USA, noted he was approa...