Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

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...

Though Greenland USA may seem a zombie developer ( link ) regarding the six railyard development sites, expected to be lost in a long-pending foreclosure process, it still has a lobbying contract regarding the so-called "platform project." State records show that a 2019 contract, amended and extended over the years, has been extended for another year, until the end of 2025, unless terminated by the owner. See below. (That termination option was introduced in 2024, suggesting the precariousness of the effort.) As in 2024, Greenland is paying a monthly fee of $3,750. In 2022 and 2023, when Greenland was apparently moving forward on the platform needed to develop those sites, and also negotiating to supersize the project to make it more financially viable, the fee was $6,000 per month.   From 2019 through 2021, the monthly fee was $4,000, and the contract focused not on the platform sites but rather the B4 tower (18 Sixth Ave.), which Greenland developed jointly with the Brods...

Update: My speculation was off. Related had pulled out ( link ). Is the deal with Related Companies, as part of a joint venture with the U.S. Immigration Fund and the Fortress Investment Group, to take over the six tower sites over the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard, already done? Well, that's one interpretation of Related's November/December 2024 lobbying report , which excludes mention of Atlantic Yards. (Another is that the report has a lapse.) As I reported in November, Related amped up engagement in September and October, indicating that it not only lobbied four executives at Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, it also lobbied New York City Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer.  Is Related asking the city for housing subsidies? As I wrote, it's hard to imagine Related would enter the project without having negotiated, at least partly, the scale of the project, the affordable housing obligation (and deadline...

Something's going on, but who knows exactly what. Bi-monthly lobbying reports from powerhouse lobbyist Kasirer, representing Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park developer Greenland USA's vehicle Pacific Park Development LLC, indicate the same thing: "advocate on GPP [General Project Plan] development." That could encompass a lot, since the GPP , surely subject to future proposed revision, guides the overall project in terms of configuration, scope, and design, while the associated Development Agreement, a more detailed contract, sets definitions, deadlines, and more. So there could be major changes being proposed, and discussed. The reports In January-February 2024, the state's lobbying database indicates communication with Arden Sokolow, Executive VP, Real Estate Development and Planning at Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project. STATE & MUNICIPAL FOCUSES AND PARTIES LOBBIED TYPE FOCUS PARTIES COMMUNICATION MONITORIN...

Judging from recent lobbying reports and the revised lobbying contract (bottom) between Pacific Park Development LLC, owned nearly in full by Greenland USA, and lobbying powerhouse Kasirer LLC, Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park is looking rather tentative.  The contract is made available via the city's lobbying database , but most of Greenland's lobbying activity has been with representatives of New York State, including Empire State Development (ESD), the gubernatorially controlled state authority that oversee/shepherds the project. That reflects the uncertain state of the project. The planned platform is stalled and the six sites over the railyard are facing a foreclosure auction Feb. 12 . Past contracts Consider: starting in 2019, the developer agreed to pay Kasirer $4,000/month for lobbying services. That continued through 2021. For 2022 and 2023, the developer agreed to pay $6,000/month. For 2024, however, the monthly fee is $3,750, implying a lower expectation of lobbying activ...

So, what do recent lobbying filings regarding Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park tell us? Not much, but they do hint that master developer Greenland Forest City Partners is trying to remove some roadblocks to progress. The state lobbying database  indicates  that the lobbying powerhouse Kasirer expects to be lobbying state and local public authorities and local development corporations--the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation?--as well as the New York City Department of Buildings.  The latter may--I speculate--be a stumbling block in the announced by long-delayed plan to start building a platform over the Vanderbilt Yard. Other reports from 2022 indicate contact with Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, perhaps--I speculate--regarding the increasingly untenable May 2025 deadline for the project's affordable housing. Surely the developer seeks to extend the deadline and/or avoid the onerous $2,000/month fines for ea...

It seems like the law firm Fried Frank--which represented developer Forest City Ratner on all aspects of Atlantic Yards, including bond financing, the override of zoning, and litigation--is the destination of choice for lawyers making the jump from New York City's Department of City Planning. Along with  Melanie Meyer s, who joined the firm in 2003 after serving as DCP's general counsel, and  David Karnovsky , who joined in 2014 after serving in the same post, former general counsel and then acting director Anita Laremont has signed on, according to The Real Deal, and will start in September. Note: Meyers, Karnovsky, and Jonathan Mechanic were  ranked  #67 in City & State's 2022 Real Estate Power 100, given the firm's role in numerous big projects. Past service Laremont previously spent 16 years as general counsel at Empire State Development Corporation (now simply Empire State Development, or ESD), famously defending Atlantic Yards to the hilt. Remember, ...

Let's look at  New York State Top 50 Lobbyists 2021 , published by City & State 8/29/21. An Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park lobbyist Number two on the list was Kasirer, with $14,142,309 in compensation. Listed as notable clients are " Restaurants Organizing Advocating Rebuilding, Hotel Association of New York City, New York Building Congress, Motion Picture Association, Target," but let's not forget the developer of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. Enabling mobile sports betting Number 16 was The Parkside Group, with $3,956,125 in compensation. The notable clients were "AT&T, Brooklyn Nets, CAMBA Inc., Microsoft, 32BJ SEIU." The biggest achievement in the past year? Parkside replied: We are obviously proud of so many incredible victories that we helped achieve for our clients, whether it is helping industries navigate the COVID-19 reopening process, securing government assistance for essential workers or passing critical alternative energy legislation. But o...

City & State recently published  The Top 50 NYC Lobbyists 2021 , which ranks them by 2020 lobbying compensation figures compiled by the Office of the New York City Clerk. Guess what, the busiest firm is Kasirer, which earned $14.1 million last year for industries including "nonprofit, real estate, hospitality, technology, health care." And one component, unsurprisingly, was $48,000, or $4,000 a month, from Pacific Park Development, LLC, focusing on the under-construction B4 tower, 18 Sixth Avenue, and a similar sum--$48,000, or $4,000 a month--from the affiliated Atlantic Yards Venture, focusing on the stalled (but hardly abandoned) plan for Site 5. Those lobbied included City Council members Laurie Cumbo, Brad Lander, and Steve Levin; Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams; and Department of City Planning head Marisa Lago. That's what was reported to the city, but, as shown in the screenshot, also key is "Engaging with the Governor's office on issues, initi...

Well, now we know several changes, likely some of them significant, are planned for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, including larger (likely) buildings, less car and bike parking, design changes, and a narrowing of an open space path. We'll learn more at a meeting Tuesday . Interestingly enough, those issues are not at the forefront of project-related lobbying. At least according to 2019 city lobbying files (bottom), the most important projects to Greenland Forest City Partners are the B4 tower, aka 18 Sixth Avenue, which is rising at the northeast corner of the arena block, and the yet-to-be approved (or even formally advanced) plan for a giant two-tower project  Site 5 , currently home to Modell's and P.C. Richard. Consider the two main contracts from entities building the project are for B4 and Site 5, at bottom. For B4, Pacific Park Development LLC is paying Kasirer LLC $4,000 a month. For Site 5, Atlantic Yards Venture LLC is paying Kasirer the same sum. The s...