Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Donald Trump’s Deals Rely on Being Creative W/ the Truth https://t.co/XQjHpT0Pow So do Bruce Ratner's https://t.co/0JdF7zcBC9 #AtlanticYards — Norman Oder (@AYReport) July 17, 2016

According to the latest two-week Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday July 18 and released yesterday (lead time, for the first time in a while) by Empire State Development after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners, some previously predicted work may finally start in this period, and work on the B3 tower is moving ahead. Notably, the superstructure phase of B3 (38 Sixth Avenue) should be completed with the pouring of the bulkhead, the jumping of the hoist should be completed, curtain wall delivery and installation will begin. Also, the dismantling of the tower crane is projected to occur during the weekend of July 30. A community notice will be distributed. Some major work promised in previous Construction Updates is again expected in this period. At the B2 modular tower, aka 461 Dean Street, overnight sewer installation at the intersection of Flatbush & Dean Street may occur, prefaced by a community notice. Dem...

I  wrote yesterday  about Metro's  skewed coverage  that suggests the new 535 Carlton "affordable" building is for "low- and moderate-income New Yorkers," rather than mostly for middle-income ones, with fully half the units for households earning six figures. (Here's the lottery , open through Sept. 15.) Only 20% of the affordable units, not 50%, were supposed to go to that middle-income cohort. We should better call the housing "income-linked," given that "affordable"=30% of income spent on rent. Half the units are at 165% of Area Median Income, or AMI, which  is $90,600  for a four-person household. AMI is calculated not based on New York City or Brooklyn alone but by including some wealthier suburbs. Now we have some not so discerning follow-up. Patch posted  Photos: Nab a New Studio in Prospect Heights for $548 Per Month . Fort Greene Focus had  Affordable Housing Lottery For 535 Carlton Avenue Starts Tomorrow!  Curbed posted ...

So how can a large truck idle at 6:20 am yesterday for 20 minutes on the Sixth Avenue bridge, aiming to go into a Pacific Park site, with no enforcement? Nor was it allowed to turn left on residential Dean Street (which is allowed only for trucks exiting the B3 site). Do you think officials might crack down when more people are living next door (because there will be)? 2016-07-14 6:20am @pacificparkbk 18 wheel tractor-trailer idles for over 20 minutes on the 6 Avenue bridge at 6:20am in the morning waiting for a gate to open to unload then decides to drive somewhere so makes a left turn on Dean St which is not a truck route except in certain instances full videos on YouTube AYInfoNYC user #pacificparkbk #bciza #nypd78thprecinct #aycdc A photo posted by NWBklyn (@nwbklyn) on Jul 14, 2016 at 3:57am PDT

So the free tabloid Metro tells us Lottery for new Barclays-adjacent affordable-housing building set for Friday , with the sub-heading "535 Carlton’s developers emphasized that the upcoming lottery is not just for low-income New Yorkers." Ya think? It's mostly for households earning six figures or more ! I made this chart regarding both 535 Carlton and the parallel 38 Sixth Avenue, so cut the numbers in half for 535 Carlton: The AMI in 2015 was $86,300 and the AMI in 2016 is $90,600 . So the numbers are higher. (Oh, and Carlton Avenue is one long block from the arena.) The article begins: A building scheduled to open later this year in Prospect Heights’ Pacific Park development will offer potential residents a shot at a bargain price in an upcoming affordable housing lottery. Well, affordable housing means "income linked," in which residents pay 30% of their income. A $3000+ two-bedroom unit may be a bargain in the local context, but it's h...

Given the histories of delays and renegotiations regarding payment for development rights to the Vanderbilt Yard, I wondered if Greenland Forest City Partners would pay a large required installment payment due this past June 1. They did, as MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan confirmed last month. But there's a little more to the story: they likely got the money cheap, thanks to a below-market EB-5 loan. The history As stated in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's June 2009 staff summary (originally here ), after Forest City Ratner renegotiated the terms, no longer willing to pay the full $100 million in cash pledged: FCR would pay $20 million in cash for the property upon which the arena would be built. FCR would pay to MTA/LIRR for the air rights parcel an amount equal to eighty million dollars ($80,000,000) net present value as of January 1, 2010, discounted at 6.5% per annum as follows: down payment of $8 million, payable in four equal annual installments of $2 mi...

Following up a previous portion of a softball interview comes  BISNOWTV EXCLUSIVE: FOREST CITY RATNER CEO MARYANNE GILMARTIN ON WORKING WITH FOREIGN INVESTORS, BECOMING A REIT . So again I'll interpolate comments ( in italics ) in the discussion between Kenneth Weissenberg, partner at EisnerAmper, and MaryAnne Gilmartin, president & CEO at Forest City Ratner. Dealing with Greenland Group KW: Do you find it particularly challenging dealing with foreign investors? ( Not just investors but venture lead partners/overseers ) MAG: That's a very good question. ( Chummy! ) I like to say that, with 25 Chinese nationals that are our offices in Brooklyn, we are having, in many ways, a cultural odyssey, to connect the differences in the way that we do businesses... compared to the Chinese culture. ( and if things go wrong with Greenland Forest City Partners , as some other partnerships--like Skanska--these words will be prophetic ) It's not always easy, but as evidenced b...

So, Newsday had a cover story today,  Bruce Ratner seeks $6.2M in tax breaks for complex by Coliseum : Developer Bruce Ratner is seeking nearly $6.2 million in tax breaks from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency to build a retail and entertainment complex next to the Nassau Coliseum, according to documents obtained by Newsday. Ratner, who expects to begin work on the 188,000-square-foot plaza next month, wants $4.92 million in sales tax exemptions during the construction period to help pay for materials, according to a June 13 application to the IDA. He received $4.4 million in tax breaks last year [ link ] to renovate the arena. ...Ratner also wants a $1.26 million reduction in mortgage recording taxes on the plaza. Nassau imposes a tax of 1.05 percent on the mortgage value on commercial properties. "Financial assistance on this project is necessary," Ratner said in the application, aaccording to Newsday. Note that Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim now owns 8...

From my article in City Limits today,  Fuzzy Plans for New Towers at Key Pacific Park Site : An "iconic office building" could be coming to Brooklyn's most contested crossroads, at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenue, if developers of the Pacific Park Brooklyn project (formerly Atlantic Yards) successfully steer a bold plan to combine two development sites into one. But newly acquired documents not only reveal potential dimensions for the giant project, at 1.1 million square feet and up to 785 feet tall, that have been kept under wraps. They also hint the plan, which could contain Brooklyn's glitziest mall, might contain more apartments than office space. ...The switch also would make permanent the Barclays Center's striking oculus and associated plaza. Not only might the move usher in a significant condo-plus-retail segment of a project billed as a job-creating office tower. It also would create a far taller and bulkier building than previously approved, at the bor...

From an encomium in the New York Times to the departing president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, Tucker Reed, headlined After Iraq, Trying His Hand at a Project Closer to Home: Brooklyn  and quoting, well, his colleagues: Mr. Reed’s work, unlike that in many developing areas in the city, has not drawn much criticism, perhaps because, unlike in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, or the South Bronx, there were few residents or businesses to be pushed out in Downtown Brooklyn. As for those nearby, Mr. Reed said the partnership “worked really hard to invite the surrounding neighborhoods in, so they would have a sense of ownership of the changes that were coming.” Oh, sure . The voice of the business community was not always right. Note this quote: “I like to think of things in leveraged returns,” Mr. Reed, 36, said recently at his office in the MetroTech Center. Since 2004, “the city invested $400 million in infrastructure and coupled that with a host of new policies,” he added. ...

OK, so web search results (right) for the Waverly Brooklyn, a new 48-unit condo at 500 Waverly Avenue (at Fulton Street), say the building is in Clinton Hill (see screenshot at right)--though the location is near Fort Greene and near Prospect Heights, albeit after a long block down to and then across wide Atlantic Avenue. So does the recent New York Times  article  about the "contextual" exposed concrete. But if you go to the web page for the Waverly Brooklyn (see screenshot below), the building is somehow located "on a prominent corner where the neighborhoods of Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, and Prospect Heights all meet." That kind of cartographic magic recalls 550 Vanderbilt, the Pacific Park Brooklyn condo tower said to be  "located between Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope." Also note this rather vague "neighborhood" map of things to do, including a visit to the Brooklyn Museum, a good 20-minu...

As predicted in the latest Construction Update , the huge green fence outside 550 Vanderbilt (aka B11) will be replaced by a smaller, closer-in fence. It should have a material effect on not only pedestrians but also vehicles  swerving and causing collisions at Vanderbilt and Dean. According to a Community Notice circulated yesterday: A temporary fence will be assembled along Vanderbilt Avenue allowing the process of dismantling the 16' high fence to take place. We anticipate removing the 16' high fence and structure during the week of July 11th. A new protected pedestrian path will be established on the west side of Vanderbilt Avenue between Pacific and Dean Streets. The bicycle lane will be restriped. Installation of a new sidewalk bridge, reinstatement of traffic signals, pedestrian walkway, crosswalks and bicycle lane are scheduled during the following week of July 18th. Final road striping will occur after fence modification is complete and is expected to be comp...

So how much money is being spent on layers and consultants for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park by Empire State Development, the state authority overseeing/shepherding the project? A lot. And it's all paid for by the developer. According to 6/23/16 ESD Board Materials , which include Consolidated Financial Statements and Independent Auditors' Report for the years ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the total spending on Atlantic Yards neared $46 million, with the consultant AKRF, which produced environmental review documents, at $7.4 million, environmental monitor HDR at $3.2 million, and owner's rep STV at $3.5 million. Among law firms, Skadden Arps, which hasn't been involved for a while but defended the early stage of the eminent domain cases, earned $9.5 million; Bryan Cave, which defended eminent domain and environmental litigation; earned $9.3 million, and Berger and Webb, which pursued condemnation and also defended challenges to project approvals, earned $13.3 million...

Tonight, the Department of Environment Protection (DEP) is scheduled to perform tests on existing main water valves located around the intersection of Vanderbilt and Pacific, and Dean and Carlton beginning at midnight. These test are being conducted to facilitate upcoming public water work. Water service interruption is expected to only affect construction area but may temporarily affect other areas if existing valves do not perform as expected. Any interruptions will be restored by morning. It would help to have a specific time for restoration of service.

Revised schedules for the bi-monthly Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park "Quality of Life Community Update Meeting" and the quarterly Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) were issued Tuesday. Notably, the August 24 Quality of Life Community Update meeting was shifted to Sept. 13, and the AY CDC was shifted from August 16 to Sept. 20. No explanation was provided--it could be logistics, and/or it could be that developer Greenland Forest City Partners wants to announce something, and wants to wait until September. Typically the AY CDC meeting takes place after the Quality of Life Community Update meeting, so issues ventilated at the grassroots can filter up to the appointed advisory board. In this case, the August meetings were scheduled in reverse order, but the new schedule re-sets the order. That means there should be only five weeks between the September and October Quality of Life Community Update meetings. But only if that schedule continues--it's po...

According to the latest two-week Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Construction Update (bottom), covering the two weeks beginning Monday July 4 (a holiday) and released yesterday by Empire State Development at 3:22 pm (late) after preparation by Greenland Forest City Partners, some major work promised in the previous Construction Update is again expected in this period, and some new work is planned. Part of the giant fence may shrink. Provided appropriate permits are obtained, the MPT (maintenance and protection of traffic) along Vanderbilt Avenue outside the 550 Vanderbilt site may be modified during this period to deconstruct the 16 foot fence, put up an 8 foot fence and establish a protected pedestrian path on the west side of Vanderbilt Avenue. A community notice will be distributed. As predicted in the two previous Construction Updates, demolition at Block 1120--the buildings that bump down into the railyard from Atlantic Avenue--could commence upon receipt of Department of Building...

From Bushwick Daily yesterday,  How Local Advocates Want to Address Bushwick's Race, Class & Affordable Housing Issues : Victories for affordable housing are too few and far between, but the panelists made a point of identifying successful affordable housing initiatives and discussing their strengths and weaknesses. Atlantic Yards (at 461 Dean Street) recently closed its housing lottery for places in the 363 unit building (half which are affordable) - a reality that has been 15 years in the making, said [Ismene] Speliotis [Executive Director of the Mutual Housing Association of New York]. “There were over 83,000 online applications,” she said, “and seven bags of applications the size of me in the mail...the mayor needs to listen to the data. It’s empirical evidence of a huge problem.” My comment: I wasn't there, but this report by no means makes it clear that 461 Dean Street at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Brooklyn [aka B2] is a "successful" initiative. The fa...

Pacific Park’s 550 Vanderbilt hits 50 percent sold mark , reports the Real Deal: Nine months after officially launching sales, Pacific Park Brooklyn’s first condominium building is 50 percent sold, the developer said. More than 140 units at 550 Vanderbilt Avenue are now in contract, with a blended average sale price of $1,500 per square foot. Closings are expected to start by the end of the year, said Shwetha Subramanian, director of residential development at Greenland Forest City Partners. That's meant to sound impressive, and maybe it is for an expensive condo building, but... nine months ago, when the sales gallery opened (see press release at bottom), it was more than 30% sold, with more than 80 residences had gone into contract. So if 60 units have sold in nine months, well, that's less than seven per month.  So, extrapolating, if the remaining 138 units sell at that pace, that could take 20 months. The building is supposed to open next year. (The press release ta...

NetsDaily, taking off from a Moscow Times report , ventilates the Russian media reports that Mikhail Prokhorov, reportedly pressured by Vladimir Putin, is selling all his Russian assets, which range from mining and metals to media and real estate.  A Prokhorov deputy told "Net Income" (aka Bob Windrem)  the rumor wasn't true, but said officials at Prokhorov's firm Onexim "are constantly in a state of transition and we are always in the process of negotiations for sales and acquisitions and attracting new partners." Prokhorov's separate United States company, Onexim Sports & Entertainment, owns the Brooklyn Nets and the operating company for the Barclays Center. It is owned by Prokhorov but not a subsidiary of his Russian conglmerate. It is not for sale, and Onexim has been investing in projects like the Nassau Coliseum. But things could change. Windrem writes: However, the political situation in Russia is increasingly volatile and Prokhorov, with...

Tricia Wang noticed something: "Everything you love about brooklyn" except PoC. The new 550 Vanderbilt building's white washed version of #Brooklyn has 1 token minority in their condo advertising. #prospectheights #gentrification A photo posted by tricia the wolf (@triciawang) on Feb 23, 2016 at 10:50am PST