Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) last night made a presentation to Brooklyn Community Board 8's Environment, Sanitation and Transportation Committee on what's called Pacific Park Project Phase I, involving a combined sewer installation and water main replacement, expected to start this fall and last three years. (I first wrote about it last month.) Some key details were scarce, but it seemed clear that work along Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues, and then up Dean one block and Vanderbilt up two blocks, would intersect with, and impact, construction in the neighborhood. Though one reason for the project is to support newly constructed buildings, it won't be completed until well after the B12 and B13 towers (615 Dean/595 Dean) open in mid-2023, raising questions about why it didn't start sooner. ( Update : those buildings will rely on existing infrastructure installed by the developers; this new work will add support.) A DDC rep said ...

Though statements on LinkedIn profiles aren't definitive (see previous coverage of Equinox),  the profile for  Chengxu Yang , VP, Director of Construction at Greenland USA in New York, offers a few intriguing clues about the progress and plans for Pacific Park Brooklyn. After describing the three towers completed by the joint venture Greenland Forest Partners--the condo 550 Vanderbilt and the rentals 535 Carlton and 38 Sixth--Yang's profile describes current and future work. About the new railyard That work includes "LIRR VD Yard (Infrastructure, construction costs >$200M, near completion)." Translated: the new and relocated Vanderbilt Yard, to store and service Long Island Rail Road trains, will cost more than $200 million, and is nearly finished. Indeed, the yard was described at a meeting earlier this month as nearing completion. As to the cost figure, in 2009, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)  said the new railyard would be valued at...

Tonight's bi-monthlyAtlantic Yards Project Quality of Life Meeting will be held at 6 pm at: Shirley A. Chisholm State Office Building 55 Hanson Place 1st Floor Conference Room Brooklyn, NY 11217 The attached agenda is typically vague, indicating presentations from (or on behalf of) Empire State Development, Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation, and Barclays Center. Management questions I'll be looking out for a few things. First, now that The Brodsky Organization is involved in the development of the two parcels under construction, B4 (18 Sixth Avenue) and B15 (664 Pacific Street), what role will representatives of that company play at such meetings going forward? Also, now that Forest City Ratner no longer exists, its parent company having been absorbed by Brookfield Asset Management, will L&L MAG, the firm founded by former Forest City Ratner CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, still have a role? As I wrote in January 2018, Ashley Cotton, formerly at Fo...

This is the third of five articles regarding the 3/15/19 meeting of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC), set up to advise the parent Empire State Development (ESD). The first article concerned the expected 2022 completion date for the middle school. The second article concerned the board's inability to hire independent consultants. The fourth article concerned a failed effort to get a building-by-building timetable for affordable units. The fifth article analyzed the likelihood of building all railyard towers by 2025. AY CDC President Marion Phillips III, an ESD executive, in his President's Report (bottom), updated board members on the past year regarding the project, including: extending contracts with ESD consultants Greenland USA's buyout of Forest City Ratner, going from 70% to 95% ownership the increased passage available on Dean Street between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues, given the removal of a construction fence the resoluti...

OK, it's part of her shtick. As I reported in March, former Forest City Ratner/Forest City New York CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin lamented cost inflation in the subway entrance needed for the Barclays Center: "In the original pro forma, we had it for something like $6 million. It ended up costing $72 million." Last month, as reported in the Real Deal 10/23/18 and similarly in Real Estate Weekly that day, Gilmartin used that anecdote to highlight the challenges in dealing with government agencies. From the Real Deal: When building the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, she said, Forest City Ratner had proformaed the cost of a new subway entrance at $5 million. But when the company got a look under the sidewalk at all the corrosion in the subway, executives realized it would cost much more. When Forest City went to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, though, the agency put all the cost of construction on the developer — $72 million. “It was harder to build that entrance...

A message below, verbatim, from Pacific Park Brooklyn and Empire State Development about water connection work in two locations. Note that the Pacific Street work was supposed to start ten days ago and involve noise. The work at Flatbush and Dean was hinted at in the most recent Construction Update , but there was no mention of a lane closure: "Overnight and daytime water service work at the intersection of Flatbush & Dean Street may occur." --- Pacific Street between Carlton & 6th Avenues Saturday, August 20th, 2016 On Saturday, August 20th as part of the Pacific Park Brooklyn development there will be water connection work on Pacific Street between Carlton & 6th Avenues from 7:00AM - 3:30PM. During this work the sidewalk on the south side of Pacific Street will remain open to pedestrians. This work will not require any disruption of water service to residents. 461 Dean Street Flatbush Avenue at the corner of Dean Street Monday, August 22, 201...

Former Port Authority head Anthony Shorris, a veteran government hand, has been named by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio as first deputy mayor . As deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget under Ed Koch, Shorris was, to de Blasio, “one of the central architects of the Koch administration’s affordable housing program." Of course back then the city was taking property in tax arrears and helping rehabilitate it or sell it--a very different scenario than today. Shorris, as noted by Capital New York, also served as "Koch’s finance commissioner, and then served as deputy chancellor for operations at the Department of Education in the Giuliani and Bloomberg administration." Shorris very much has mainstream credentials, serving as a Regional Plan Association board member, co-chairing the Fourth Regional Plan, which will map out plans for infrastructure and development In the Daily News, former Empire State Development Corporation President Avi Schick wrote  A grea...

Is Forest City Ratner aiming to use $249 million from foreign millionaires under the EB-5 immigration program to make up for an infrastructure gap? There are some hints that's so, but also some counter-evidence. In 2009, the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation (BALDC), set up to issue tax-exempt bonds for Atlantic Yards arena construction, was also considering the issuance of up to $400 million in bonds for Atlantic Yards infrastructure. That didn't happen. As I wrote 11/30/09, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) stated, somewhat cryptically: ESDC was at one time considering additional tax exempt bonds for infrastructure financing. Ultimately ESDC decided not to pursue that type of financing. The gap The ESDC's 2009 Modified General Project Plan budgeted $717 million for project infrastructure, with $100 million from the state for infrastructure and under $100 million--the amount is debatable --from the city. The bonds presumably would have fille...

Atlantic Yards is falling down the memory hole. In two City Council committee hearings, held in March 18 and May 25, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC) President Seth Pinsky made some questionable statements regarding Atlantic Yards, but was not called to account. He mischaracterized the timing and size of the city's investment He claimed there were new incentives to get the project done on time, but those incentives don't conform to the timetable his agency used to calculate city revenues He made new claims about the total of city spending on Atlantic Yards, but hasn't provided full details He cited, but didn't at the time provide, a new cost-benefit analysis that seems dubious under scrutiny , given that it presumes a both a full buildout and one accomplished in ten years He didn't point out that the city's new analysis represents a 20% decline in city revenue (though, likely, it's merely a more honest calculation than its predecessor...

Yesterday, the Empire State Development Corporation amended the State Funding Agreement for Atlantic Yards so it could pass along an additional $32.5 million in city funding to Forest City Ratner for project-related infrastructure. From one perspective, it seems like a significant increase in city subsidies for Atlantic Yards, given that the Forest City Ratner will have directly received $171.5 million. That's far more than the initial $100 million pledged in 2005. City subsidy actually down? However, representatives of the ESDC and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC) both stated yesterday that the city's commitment to Atlantic Yards was well below the $205 million figure that has been reported for three years. (With $100 million from the state, that would be $305 million.) I distrust that explanation, as I will explain below. After all, Forest City Ratner itself counted $205 million in city funds, as noted in the screenshot at right from the former Atlan...