July 5, 2009
One wrench in Ratner’s plans
The Brooklyn Paper
By Cristian Fleming
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Posted by steve at July 5, 2009 12:00 PM | Permalink
Notice of Public Hearing to Be Held On July 29, 2009 And July 39, 2009
Empire State Development Corporation
The public hearings allowing for comment on the Modified Project Plans for the proposed Atlantic Yards project have already been announced via an ad in the New York Post. The ESDC, tool of developer Bruce Ratner, has posted the legal notice (PDF document) on Atlantic Yards Arena and Redevelopment Project web page.
Posted by steve at July 5, 2009 8:57 AM | Permalink
Documentary Says Only 15 Residents Holding Out in Brooklyn
Nets Daily
Boosters of the proposed Atlantic Yards project want to find some way of justifying a project that, increasingly, has no good reason to proceed except to benefit the developer Bruce Ratner. In this particular case, a claim is made that there aren't enough people living in the proposed project's footprint to justify challenging eminent domain.
A mini-documentary reports that only about 15 people are still living in the footprint of Atlantic Yards, Bruce Ratner’s Brooklyn real estate project that includes Barclays Center. A prominent critic challenges the accuracy of other parts of the documentary (Barclays Center won’t be twice the size of the Garden…it’ll be smaller) but lets the number of holdouts stand. Six hundred people have left, according to the film.
In the comments section, Norman Oder of the Atlantic Yards Report sets the record straight.
The ever-responsible Mr. Income takes me to task for not questioning the report’s statement that there are 15 people living in the footprint without even linking to my coverage.
For what it’s worth, the 2009 Modified General Project Plan states (p. 19): http://www.empire.state.ny.us/pdf/AtlanticYards/MODGPP2009.pdf Based on the best information available to the Project Sponsors as of the date hereof, in the 31 households that are currently occupied with no agreements to vacate, 5 of which are owner-occupied and 27 of which are rental units, there are approximately 62 people who remain in occupancy.3
3 These figures do not include transient occupants of the homeless facility who will be accommodated elsewhere.
NoLandGrab: Also from the Nets Daily, commentor, BrooklynBound, says: "Not one person should have to leave the property they own for a BASKETBALL ARENA."
Posted by steve at July 5, 2009 8:05 AM | Permalink
NY Court Agrees To Hear Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Suit
Encore
Perhaps this article is about the progress of the Eminent Domain lawsuit brought by residents living in the footprint of the proposed Atlantic Yards project appears to be a little late due to the Encore's weekly publication schedule.
New York's highest court has decided to hear a challenge to the state's use of eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn.
According to the New York Times, the Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments in October in a case that might throw a roadblock into developer Bruce C. Ratner's plans for the development.
Lawyers for the project expect that the favorable decisions of the lower courts unanimous rulings will be upheld, supporting the state's use of eminent domain while opponents hope that the Court of Appeals will reconsider the matter based on constitutional concerns.
The Appellate Division had previously rejected the suit, stating that the development would serve the public interest as approximately 40% of the housing being planned would be aimed at low income residents. The state had recommended that the Court of Appeals reject the suit as well, noting that the project had been approved at the city and state level but the request appeared to fall on deaf ears.
The decision to hear the case could raise issues for the developers, who are already facing significant challenges in obtaining funding for the project.
Posted by steve at July 5, 2009 8:00 AM | Permalink
The "Ratner Unit" and the"Brooklyn Nets of New Jersey"
Atlantic Yards Report
The need for developer Bruce Ratner to create confusion around the facts of the proposed Atlantic Yards project has produced two new ideas.
The first example, left as a comment on the Atlantic Yards report, refers to the constantly changing completions dates announced by blighter Bruce Ratner and his tool, the Empire State Development Corporation. In 2003, the proposed Barclays arena was scheduled to open in 2006; in 2006, it was to open in 2009; in 2009 the opening date is to be in 2012. This brings us to the "Ratner Unit".
Ratner Unit - the length of time from today (always equal to 3 years) that the AY arena will open.
The other concept, via a comment from the Nets Daily blog is to try to capitalize on the uncertain future of the New Jersey Nets by changing their name to the Brooklyn Nets of New Jersey:
The Nets should use some sneaky tricks to get Lebron to sign here. Like the Angels of MLB, the Nets should change their name to Brooklyn Nets of New Jersey. Problem solved.
NoLandGrab: It's been said that the best way to kill a joke is to explain it. Here's hoping that NoLandGrab has not committed murder.
Posted by steve at July 5, 2009 7:33 AM | Permalink
July 4, 2009
Happy Birthday, America!
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What better way to celebrate America's birthday than with a cake* in the shape of the Atlantic Yards footprint, to remind us that, 233 years after our Founding Fathers declared independence from a repressive regime, the King can still take your property for a basketball palace.
Will New York State, which joined originally with the twelve other colonies in UNITY against the crown, pull the plug on the troubled project, or will it continue to do the bidding of King Bruce?
(*Actual use: the celebration of the birthday of Historic Districts Council Deputy Director Frampton Tolbert; bakers, Cassie Murdoch and Andrew Sloat)
Posted by eric at July 4, 2009 2:48 PM | Permalink
Happy Independence Day!
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
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Posted by steve at July 4, 2009 12:00 PM | Permalink
In New York magazine, some (partly) misplaced regret for the lost Gehry design
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder critiques a New York Magazine article The Unbuilding of Frank Gehry: Has New York lost its great chance with an architectural legend? Gehry speaks.
Longtime critics of Atlantic Yards know that the removal of architect Frank Gehry is part of a pattern of not-so-trustworthy behavior by developer Forest City Ratner (whose reps swore for months that Gehry was still the architect), but New York magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson, like some other architecture aficionados, treats it as the ultimate betrayal.
The idea that Atlantic Yards would have been Gehry's opportunity to create a new "urban archetype is disputed:
But for Gehry, Atlantic Yards represented an irresistible chance to do for an urban district what he had done for the museum and the concert hall: establish a new archetype.
I think Davidson grants Gehry a little too much credit here. The architect was spending most of his time on the arena, his first, and came up with the (much-praised by some) solution--given the enormous site constraints--of nestling the arena within four towers.
Gehry did not exactly walk around Prospect Heights--or talk to locals--to try to suss out a new urban archetype.
The New York Magazine article says that an opportunity for great architecture was missed when developer Bruce Ratner announced officially what many had know for a while: Frank Gehry was no longer on the proposed Atlantic Yards project. Oder has a different perspective on the timeline.
A few weeks after that conversation, Ratner scrapped six years’ worth of design work. Pleading financial straits, he fired Gehry from the whole project and replaced his arena design with a graceless Cow Palace knockoff by the journeyman stadium-builder Ellerbe Becket. To judge by early renderings, the new offering isn’t simply inferior; it’s insultingly bad. Yet Gehry has served Ratner well. His involvement helped strong-arm the city and the state into delivering tax breaks, permits, and the power to evict holdouts. It helped beat back opposition, secure $400 million in naming rights from Barclays, and win over the architectural press. Ratner didn’t just toss Gehry into the drink; he betrayed the city, blighted a neighborhood he promised to transform, validated his opponents, and blew a colossal opportunity to bring great architecture to a city that badly needs it.
Oh, come now. Wasn't the whole thing blown in September 2007 with the State Funding Agreement, which allowed Ratner six years (after the delivery of property by eminent domain) to build the arena without penalty, 12 years for Phase 1, and no timetable for Phase 2?
That agreement, which came to light in March 2008, meant that building four towers around the arena within a tight time frame was unlikely, and thus Gehry's design was unlikely. It also meant that blight--in the form of surface parking lots and/or cleared land--was likely to persist for decades.
Also noticed is the apparent lack of regret by Gehry in laying off half of his staff. This seems consistent with other difficult decisions from the past as noted in the film "Sketches of Frank Gehry".
In the film, Milton Wexler, Gehry’s longtime therapist, recounts how Gehry was in limbo with his wife, and advised him to make up his mind, to either commit to work it out or to leave immediately. Gehry instantly moved to a hotel. “I had two daughters and a wife,” he says with a mildly incredulous laugh, but without remorse.
Posted by steve at July 4, 2009 6:48 AM | Permalink
Court to hear yards case
Courier-Life
By Stephen Witt
This article makes reference to the alleged public benefit of affordable, although the majority of so-called affordable units (most not affordable to low-income Brooklynites), are scheduled for Phase 2 of the proposed Atlantic Yards project. Nobody can say when Phase 2 might be built.
The state’s highest court agreed last week to hear the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case.
The Court of Appeals decision comes about a week after developer Forest City Ratner Companies received two greenlights for its 22−acre arena⁄housing plan at the Flatbush and Atlantic avenues intersection.
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The high court’s decision comes after the state appellate court ruled unanimously in May for the state to condemn property to make way, in part, for affordable housing.
“This case provides an opportunity for the New York Court of Appeals to continue its proud tradition of interpreting this State’s Constitution in a manner that affords more protection to individual rights and liberties,” said Matthew Brinckerhoff, the lawyer representing the appellants.
Please notice how the following sentence tries to up the percentage of affordable units by saying that 50% of rental units will be affordable. If there are 6,000 units in all, then 2,250 affordable units would make up 37% of the total.
The planned project includes an arena to house the NBA’s Nets, and about 6,000 residential units with half the rental units (2,250) being reserved for low− and moderate−income housing.
The Court’s decision came after the MTA last week voted to sell the eight−acre Vanderbilt Rail Yard portion of the project.
Under the deal, FCRC will pay $20 million down for the arena and four buildings (phase 1 of the project), and a remaining $80 million with interest over 22 years as it proceeds with the rest of the project.
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FCRC needs to finance the project and begin construction by Dec. 31 to qualify for tax−exempt status, which would save the company millions of dollars in borrowing costs.
In order to do this, the company intends to sell about $650 million in bonds for the arena in late September, according to published reports.
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The ESDC also announced a 60−day public comment period complete with hearings on the modified general project plan.
The hearings are slated for July 29 and 30 with two sessions for each hearing − an afternoon hearing between 2−5 p.m., and an evening session from 6−8 p.m.
The hearings will take place at the New York City College of Technology’s Klitgord Auditorium, 285 Jay Street.
Posted by steve at July 4, 2009 5:59 AM | Permalink
“HoldOut” – A short documentary about Atlantic Yards holdouts
Not Another F*cking Blog!
This blog entry offers commentary on the latest Atlantic Yards documentary, Hold Out.
After trudging through every nook and cranny of the footprint, taking tens of thousands of photos, trying to capture what it was, what it is now, and what it’s becoming, I recognize nearly every location and person in this visually stunning short. A small part of my home even makes an appearance. It’s not factually perfect, per Norman Oder on his Atlantic Yards Report, but I feel that it does put a much needed human face on those directly in the path of the developer Forest City Ratner’s wrecking ball.
My only regret is that it was so short. I hope this team has a longer Atlantic Yards project in the works.
Posted by steve at July 4, 2009 5:50 AM | Permalink
July 3, 2009
MediaStorm's "Hold Out" and a bit of fact-checking
Atlantic Yards Report
Some Friday fact-checking — and a brief review of a brief movie — from Atlantic Yards Report.
Don't expect the brief video Hold Out, by the multimedia company MediaStorm, to provide a full sketch of the Atlantic Yards development, and don't even expect main character David Sheets (right), a crusty and compelling Dean Street resident and regular at Freddy's Bar & Backroom, to have all the facts.
Backed by an ominous soundtrack, Sheets, a rent-stabilized tenant and plaintiff in the eminent domain case, offers his incredulity at the plans for Atlantic Yards, his deep frustration at the utility and other work that made life on Dean Street hell last year, his lament at the community lost, and his commitment to fighting the project until the end. It's a highly sympathetic portrait.
Some fact-checking
Do note, however, that the overview text asserts that, when announced in 2003, Atlantic Yards would cost nearly five billion dollars. That's the tab now, but it was $2.5 million when announced.
Also note that, at 22 acres and nearly 8 million square feet, Atlantic Yards would not be "three times the size of Rockefeller Center," as Sheets asserts, but rather just about the same size. The key difference: AY would be mostly housing, while Rock Center is mostly commercial space.
Nor would the arena be twice the size of Madison Square Garden, as Sheets states, but, at 800,000 square feet, would be fractionally smaller than MSG's 820,000 sf.
Posted by eric at July 3, 2009 10:09 AM | Permalink
HOLDOUT
MediaStorm presents a short documentary on some of the remaining residents and property owners who stand in the way of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards megaproject.
Atlantic Yards is Brooklyn's largest ever proposed real estate development. The plan includes a basketball arena, numerous high rises, and would cost nearly five billion dollars. To make room, many buildings have been razed and more than 600 residents have left the neighborhood. But a handful of residents refuse to leave.
Posted by lumi at July 3, 2009 6:19 AM | Permalink
Lawyer for footprint owners says ESDC effort to move tenants is premature
Atlantic Yards Report
Is the friendly neighborhood Empire State Developerment Corporation just trying to be helpful, or were the letters they sent to residents and property owners in the Atlantic Yards footprint meant to apply more pressure to get them out?
I wrote Wednesday that tenants and property owners in the Atlantic Yards footprint have received letters from the law firm Berger & Webb, which represents the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in its pursuit of eminent domain, telling them it'll be time to move soon.
Attorney Michael Rikon, who represents some footprint property owners, sent a letter of complaint to the ESDC, saying the process shouldn't begin until eminent domain is completed:
My client forwarded a copy of a letter dated June 26, 2009 in which you inform that the New York State Urban Development Corporation relocation consultant, Cornerstone Group Real Estate Services will start conducting initial visits with each occupant in the effected business buildings. Please be advised that no one is permitted to enter the premises to speak to any tenant on the property with respect to relocation until title has vested. We will view any such visit as trespass and further as an “affirmative value depressing act.” No relocation effort may begin or contact with the tenant with respect to relocation until title vests.
In a comment to me, Rikon added, "ESDC has absolutely no right to talk to tenants about relocation before it acquires title.
Posted by lumi at July 3, 2009 5:49 AM | Permalink
ESPN The Magazine says Bruce Ratner is second-worst owner in pro sports
Atlantic Yards Report
ESPN Magazine likens Bruce Ratner's NJ Nets to a house guest that overstayed his welcome. Norman Oder explains why.
From the [ESPN Mag] entry:
Developer Bruce Ratner is starting to resemble that college friend who just wasn't ready to move on after graduation. Hey, Jersey, we're hitting snafus with that planned move to Brooklyn, so, ummm, ya mind if I crash here a while longer?
For the record, when Atlantic Yards was announced in December 2003, the Brooklyn arena was supposed to open in 2006. When the project received governmental approvals in 2006, the arena was supposed to open in 2009. Now Ratner projects 2011, though government agencies say 2012--and that's before lawsuits get resolved, bonds are sold, and shovels in the ground.
Posted by lumi at July 3, 2009 5:38 AM | Permalink
Ratner Makes New Promises; Amanda Burden Close to Edge on Arena Design
After Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner committed not to build ugly, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn wonders:
So, if the renderings of the Barclays Center Hangar were not Bruce Ratner's "intentions for the project" what were they and what are his intentions? And if he still doesn't know what his arena is going to look like (if that is true) how can he claim, with a straight face, that he's breaking ground this fall?
Anyway...
It seems pretty clear that City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden is not pleased with Atlantic Yards at all. So she has a choice to make: let it stumble along and end up with decades-long blight and a big box arena sitting empty most of the time or buck her boss Bloomberg and do the right thing. It's times like these on projects like these that call for whistleblowing.
Posted by lumi at July 3, 2009 5:35 AM | Permalink
Forest City Enterprises (FCE.A) Channel Alert: 3.3% Move in 49 Days
FoxBusiness.com
Jul 02, 2009 (SmarTrend(R) Spotlight via COMTEX) ----SmarTrend's proprietary algorithms detected bearish price action on shares of Forest City Enterprises (NYSE:FCE.A) which generated a Downtrend alert on May 14, 2009 at $6.29.
Since the alert, FCE.A has trended 3.3% lower as of today's recent price of $6.08.
SmarTrend is actively monitoring Forest City Enterprises for any change in trend direction.
NoLandGrab: In case folks at Forest City didn't notice, but two of the three related-ads that appeared with this item were for "penny stocks" — ouch!
Posted by lumi at July 3, 2009 5:16 AM | Permalink
July 2, 2009
Ratner promises Atlantic Yards arena redesign
The Forest City Ratner chief said the Atlantic Yards basketball arena renderings leaked to the media last month were premature and do not reflect his intentions for the project.
Crain's NY Business
by Erik Engquist
Promises, promises.
So, Bruce, you'd have us believe that you spent a bunch of money to produce several renderings to submit to the Department of City Planning (whose commissioner, Amanda Burden, leaked them to the press) that do not reflect your "intentions for the project?" Uh, wha?
Bruce Ratner, chief executive of Forest City Ratner, has told senior members of the Bloomberg administration that the Atlantic Yards basketball arena renderings leaked to the media last month were premature and do not reflect his intentions for the project, city sources say. While Mr. Ratner is said to have reaffirmed his commitment to a "world-class" design, he faces the challenge of improving it without substantially raising the cost.
Frank Gehry had designed a $1 billion arena that impressed architecture critics but proved unaffordable when the economy tanked and credit markets froze. Missouri-based architectural firm Ellerbe Becket was brought in and proposed a $772 million arena that resembled an airplane hangar. To say that the design did not meet the expectations of Amanda Burden, chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, would be a vast understatement.
"One of the key goals of the Atlantic Yards project was to transform an area with development that incorporates world-class architecture, a dynamic streetscape, and significant public amenities," she said in a statement issued by her spokeswoman. "Bruce Ratner has given the city a commitment that he will design the Atlantic Yards in a way that respects both the letter and the spirit of what was envisaged in 2006, when the project received its original approval."
NoLandGrab: Bruce Ratner has twisted the truth about Atlantic Yards so often that it has now become habitual. And Amanda Burden really needs to come out in public and say what she supposedly says in private: that Atlantic Yards was a bad idea that has only gotten worse.
Posted by eric at July 2, 2009 3:34 PM | Permalink
Ultimate Standings 2009
ESPN The Magazine
by Morty Ain
Congratulations, Bruce Ratner! You're the second worst owner in professional sports! (and the worst owner is bankrupt and is trying to sell his team to a guy who plans to move it out of the country!)
But don't worry, even with all that, you stand alone in last place when it comes to "Community Commitment."
Welcome to ESPN The Magazine's seventh annual Ultimate Standings, in which we measure how much MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises give back to the fans in exchange for all the time, money and emotion the fans invest in them.
...Developer Bruce Ratner is starting to resemble that college friend who just wasn't ready to move on after graduation. Hey, Jersey, we're hitting snafus with that planned move to Brooklyn, so, ummm, ya mind if I crash here a while longer? "I'd like to say we have the most hated owner in sports, but of course that's not possible," says Mike from Joenetsfan.com, "because a) Al Davis is still around, and b) Nets fans can't work up enough contempt to get stoic, let alone angry."
See the complete, sortable rankings
More coverage...
Nets Daily, Ratner Ranked Second Worst Owner in Sports
Only the bankrupt owners of the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes are ranked lower than Bruce Ratner in ESPN’s listings of all 122 professional sports teams. The Nets also sit 111th–third from the bottom in the NBA–overall. The “stadium experience” at the IZOD comes in 119th.
Posted by eric at July 2, 2009 10:32 AM | Permalink
Atlantic Yards, 2010: the push for a second round of stimulus funds (I speculate)
Atlantic Yards Report
Watchdog reporter Norman Oder is getting the sneaking suspicion that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is still after federal stimulus dollars:
Despite the statement by ESDC CEO Marisa Lago at a May 29 state Senate hearing that no federal stimulus funds had been sought for Atlantic Yards, the developer is still actively lobbying in Washington.
In 2006 and 2007, Forest City Ratner paid $200,000 a year to former Senator Alfonse D'Amato's firm, Park Strategies, to fight against restrictions on the use of eminent domain, as the Observer reported.
In 2008, FCR paid D'Amato only $80,000. This year, FCR is on pace to pay D'Amato double that sum, $160,000, at least based on the first quarterly filing.
And, as the Observer reported, the target is stimulus funds. If a new round of federal funds becomes available next year--and the Obama administration is keeping an open mind--Forest City Ratner might be arguing that the public should help with the infrastructure it promised.
Posted by lumi at July 2, 2009 6:59 AM | Permalink
Dean & Carlton
This photo taken at Dean St. and Carlton Ave. was uploaded yesterday by photographer Tracy Collins to the Atlantic Yards Photo Pool on flickr.
According to Tracy:
If Atlantic Yards were built as planned, this shot would include 3 skyscrapers.
Posted by lumi at July 2, 2009 6:53 AM | Permalink
The Times low-balls the total subsidies and tax breaks for Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
The NY Times head real estate reporter Charles V. Bagli totally lowballed the amount of public subsidies for Bruce Ratner's subsidy-sucking Atlantic Yards megaproject. In his article yesterday he had it at $300M. Imagine his surprise when he finds out that the direct cash subsidy is already at $305M, and that's ignoring an ever-growing list of tax breaks, affordable-housing subsidies, brownfield clean-up funds, and the naming rights contract for the "publicly owned arena."
The real figure is one of the great mysteries of Atlantic Yards and is predicted to be headed towards the billions.
Norman Oder thinks that Bagli and the Times can do better:
I know the $300 million was not the focus of the article. Still, such a sloppy estimate reinforces my argument that the Times should consistently disclose its parent company's business relationship with Forest City Ratner.
Such disclosure should--though I can't say it does--prompt reporters and editors to be more exacting in their coverage.
Posted by lumi at July 2, 2009 6:47 AM | Permalink
Behind the state Senate turmoil: the real estate industry (with an AY angle)
Atlantic Yards Report
In an article headlined Senate Coup Plotters' Hidden Agenda: Tabloids call it a circus, but the lobbyists' goal is to squelch reforms, the Village Voice's Tom Robbins connects the state Senate's dysfunctions not to no-good legislators but to the real estate industry's desire to stymie long-awaited reforms in the city's rent regulations.
Also jeopardized are efforts at campaign finance reform and gun control. And, yes, a further look at Atlantic Yards.
In a nutshell, under Democratic control, local State Senators have held one public hearing on Atlantic Yards. If the Republicans have their way, there's little hope that State legislators would lift a finger to find out more about Bruce Ratner's highly subsidized megaproject.
The Village Voice, Senate Coup Plotters' Hidden Agenda
Democratic control of Senate committees also brought the power to shine a spotlight in places Republicans had preferred to leave dark. On May 29, 10 days before the coup shut everything down, Harlem Senator Bill Perkins, new chairman of a committee overseeing state authorities, held the Senate's first public hearing on the massive $4 billion Atlantic Yards project.
The Forest City Ratner deal was made possible by an official sleight of hand that allowed it to skirt city land use regulations. Under Republican control, the Senate asked no questions. Even at the hearing, they still offered protection. Brooklyn's lone GOP senator, Marty Golden, burst into the hearings late and, backed by cheers from building trades workers, proceeded to mock Perkins and Montgomery, in whose district the project sits, for "holding the project hostage."
Posted by lumi at July 2, 2009 6:41 AM | Permalink
Ratner and Brooklyn: Eminent domain and tax-exempt status
Field of Schemes
New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner's quest to build a vanilla, big-box style arena in Brooklyn just got a bit more complicated, with New York's top court allowing a challenge of his desired use of eminent domain for this project to move forward.
...
The clock is ticking on Ratner, as he needs to get all his financial ducks in a row and get a ceremonial shovel in the ground by December 31 to be eligible for tax-exempt status.With estimated arena costs at $772 million and capital tough to come by as the economy lurches along, not achieving tax-exempt status could torpedo the project. To hold opponents at bay, perhaps he could threaten local opponents with a decision to bring back the quirky architecture of Frank Gehry if they refuse to back down.
Sports Business Daily, http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=sbd.preview&articleID=131436 (subscription only)
Posted by lumi at July 2, 2009 6:35 AM | Permalink
July 1, 2009
State’s highest court sees some ‘appeal’ in Yards eminent domain case
The Brooklyn Paper
by Mike McLaughlin
In a twist that could be disastrous for Bruce Ratner, New York’s highest court surprised many and agreed to hear an appeal that the state has illegally used its power of eminent domain to spearhead the embattled $4.9-billion Atlantic Yards project.
Previous eminent domain cases have gone well for Ratner, but even if he wins another court battle — this time in the Court of Appeals — he could still lose hundreds of millions of dollars in possible construction and financing delays stemming from another round of litigation.
To qualify for tax-exempt financing that could save him millions, Ratner must begin construction by Dec. 31 on the Barclays Center, now a $772-million basketball arena no longer designed by Frank Gehry. Also on the line is the British bank’s agreement to pay $400 million to have its name on the Nets’ now-generic future home court, another deal that turns into a pumpkin at the end of this year.
Posted by eric at July 1, 2009 10:01 AM | Permalink
Right of way: ESDC letter warns AY footprint tenants/owners that relocation consultant will be knocking on the door
Atlantic Yards Report
Just as the New York State Court of Appeals announced that it would hear the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case, the Empire State Development Corporation was getting ready to unleash its friendly "relocation consultants" on residents of the project footprint.
Tenants and property owners in the Atlantic Yards footprint have received letters from the law firm Berger & Webb, which represents the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in its pursuit of eminent domain, telling them it'll be time to move soon.
One complication: the letter offers only services of a real estate agent and a modest $5000 stipend for residential services, not mentioning the offer by Forest City Ratner--which was part of the General Project Plan (GPP) and Modified General Project Plan--to those in residence for at least one year to "return and to rent a comparable unit within the Project Site at a comparable rate to what they are currently paying."
The absence of an offer to relocate tenants into the project--as state law recommends but does not ensure--prompted a protest by George Locker, who represents eight rent-stabilized residential tenants in the project footprint and has filed a number of lawsuits on their behalf.
...But Empire State Development Corporation spokesman Warner Johnston said, "The letter is just intended to alert occupants that representatives of The Cornerstone Group, our relocation consultant, will be in the neighborhood and contacting them soon, and it includes the basic parameters of the relocation assistance that ESDC is providing (essentially verbatim from the General Project Plan), such as referrals to alternative housing, provision of moving services, etc. The General Project Plan also references some additional assistance that FCRC has been and will continue to provide for residential tenants, such as relocating residents back on the Project Site as soon as feasible (if that's what residents desire) and providing interim rent subsidies. The referrals to alternative housing to be provided by Cornerstone (mentioned in the letters of introduction) will include coordination with FCRC as necessary with respect to this assistance."
NoLandGrab: Cornerstone is a member of the International Right of Way Association, which is fitting, since Bruce Ratner appears to believe he has a right to push property owners and tenants out of his way.
Posted by eric at July 1, 2009 9:37 AM | Permalink
Is Ratner’s goose cooked?
Not another f*cking blog
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Miraculously, New York State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, has accepted an appeal of the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case! This case had been dismissed by a lower court in May of this year. The earliest the appeal would be heard by the court is mid October, and their decision would follow 6 or 8 weeks later, sometime around Thanksgiving. What this means for the developer, Forest City Ratner (FCR), is their goose (aka Atlantic Yards) is that much closer to the oven, and just in time for the holidays!
...So, after the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) brazenly forked over more of our money to FCR just last week to keep the zombie proposal stumbling forward, the Court of Appeals may end up being the stake through the heart that kills this zombie once and for all.
NoLandGrab: Stake through the heart? That's no way to kill a zombie. Only way to kill a zombie is to destroy the brain.
Posted by eric at July 1, 2009 9:14 AM | Permalink
Six Charged with Vending Violations in Sting (Also: Screw Your Bidding System)
Fork in the Road, [Village Voice blog]
by Sarah DiGregorio
Bruce Ratner merits a dishonorable mention in this piece on street-food vendors.
New York's street vending has been pushed into its current state of chaos and disrepair by unchecked bureaucracy--vendors are regulated by as many as seven city agencies--and unreasonably low permit limits, which were set in 1979 by then Commissioner of Consumer Affairs Bruce Ratner, always a friend to the common man.
Posted by eric at July 1, 2009 9:09 AM | Permalink
Atlantic Yards project faces roadblock from New York State Court of Appeals
NY Daily News
by Erin Durkin
More on this week's Atlantic Yards legal news.
The New York State Court of Appeals agreed to hear an appeal by nine plaintiffs who sued to prevent the government from taking their homes and businesses under eminent domain to make way for developer Bruce Ratner's long-delayed Nets arena and 16 residential and commercial towers.
When a lower court ruled in his favor, Ratner told the Daily News it was the "last hurdle" to the project and vowed to break ground in September. The latest court action will likely push that date back.
"You can't start building until you own the land and demolish the buildings," said Daniel Goldstein, whose Pacific St. home sits in the middle of the site of the planned arena. "It's just not possible for that to happen in '09 with this ruling."
Additional coverage...
New York Law Journal, Newsbriefs: Judges to Hear Challenge To Atlantic Yards Project
Yonkers Tribune, Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Case Going to New York's High Court
Metro NY, Atlantic Yards' new hurdle
Posted by eric at July 1, 2009 8:40 AM | Permalink
June 30, 2009
State’s Top Court Will Hear Appeal Against Atlantic Yards
The New York Times
by Charles V. Bagli
New York’s highest court has agreed to hear a case challenging the state’s use of eminent domain on behalf of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.
The decision by the top court, the Court of Appeals, to hear arguments in October came as something of a surprise to the project’s developer, Bruce C. Ratner, who had expected a clear path after a lower court rejected the case in a unanimous decision in May.
And not a pleasant surprise, for sure. We wish we could've been there when Bruce got the news.
The Court of Appeals’ involvement, announced on Monday, is the latest hurdle to Mr. Ratner’s plans to build a $772 million basketball arena, the centerpiece of the project. The developer and his bankers intend to sell about $650 million in bonds for the arena in late September.
That $650 million figure is up some 10% from estimates just last week. One wonders, why the increase?
Mr. Ratner must finance the project and begin construction by Dec. 31 to qualify for tax-exempt status, which would save him millions of dollars in borrowing costs. Most analysts say it is unlikely that conventional bonds would sell in the current market.
“I certainly don’t envy anyone who has to raise capital in the current environment,” said Robert White of Real Capital Analytics, a research firm.
Posted by eric at June 30, 2009 11:35 PM | Permalink
It came from the Blogosphere...
Joshing Politics, M.T.A. And Ratner's Deal Breaks The Law
The M.T.A. has no problem raising the fare for straphangers in their attempt to make ends meet. Yet when it comes to the rich and powerful, they have no problem making deals with people like Bruce Ratner in his attempt to build part of his Atlantic Yards site. The only problem though with saving Ratner some money is that the M.T.A. violated the law in doing so.
Brennan said the likelihood that the arena project was a boondoggle was substantial, since the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) has already testified at a hearing of the State Senate Corporations Committee on May 29^th that a preliminary updated review of the costs and benefits of the arena showed that city and state outlays for the project would exceed positive tax revenues from the project even over a 30-year period.
I would say there is more than a substantial likelihood that this is a boondoggle, because it is definitely a boondoggle. Assemblyman Brennan knows that and so does everyone else in Brooklyn, including the principals who are orchestrating this deal. Forest City Ratner may think their legal troubles are over, but they've got another thing coming.
Gideon's Trumpet, Too Many Sports Arenas
From time to time, we have blogged about the problems of municipal waste of taxpayers’ money which cities have been squandering in their efforts to attract and support sports arenas. It appears that now the predictable is happening. Charles V. Bagli, As Arenas Sprout, a Scramble to Keep Them Filled, N.Y. Times, June 29, 2009, reports that there are just plumb too many arenas, even for a big market like New York...
...And in Brooklyn, Forest City Ratner is rushing the start of construction of yet another sports facility, an arena for the Nets, which, if successful, will add another sports arena to the glut.
...Moreover, this problem is not confined to New York. Bagli reports that similar difficulties are unfolding in New Jersey, Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio. And given that the current recession is not disappearing, it looks like these folks are in for — shall we say? — interesting days. And so are the taxpayers who, lest you forget, are subsidizing this whole shebang with your tax dollars.
inversecondemnation.com, Tuesday Round-Up
The New York Court of Appeals (that state's highest court) will be hearing arguments in the Atlantic Yards cases.
structureHUB, Hotlanta: tons of towers, most of them ugly and with little prospect for a makeover
As desperate as Atlanta is for some architectural eye-candy, it is simple unnecessary to go to the most extravagant lengths to build some. Then again, my point is made harder to make in light of the ridiculous situation of the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn. There, Forest City Ratner also assumed that architectural beauty is an all-or-nothing game. No Frank Gehry? Okay, lets put up a beastly warehouse “arena” that will suck away the potential for neighborhood redevelopment faster than you can say Metrodome.
Posted by eric at June 30, 2009 10:59 PM | Permalink
HEADLINES: Not-so-frivolous eminent domain lawsuit (late) edition
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Atlantic Yards Likely Delayed Until Winter
The Eagle's Ryan Thompson has an excellent wrap-up of today's legal news, and its implications.
The state’s highest court will consider the constitutionality of Atlantic Yards, and regardless of what it decides, the multibillion dollar project will likely be delayed until winter.
Arguments are scheduled for October, and a decision from the court is expected to be issued in November or December, meaning that resolution of the eminent domain issues and transferring of title likely won’t happen until the winter, if not next year.
Developer Bruce Ratner, facing financial deadlines, had vowed to break ground on the Barclays Center basketball arena in the fall. That now appears impossible, according to the court’s scheduling of the case.
...“We are gratified that the state’s high court will hear this important case about whether our state’s constitution protects the homes of its citizens from the wrecking ball of greed wielded by influential developers and the public officials who do their bidding,” [plaintiffs' attorney Matthew] Brinckerhoff said. “This case provides an opportunity for the New York Court of Appeals to continue its proud tradition of interpreting this state’s constitution in a manner that affords more protection to individual rights and liberties. We look forward to the argument in October."
NY Post, STATE'S HIGHEST COURT TO HEAR ATLANTIC YARDS CASE
In a stunning move, the state's highest court has agreed to hear a legal challenge over the use of eminent domain to seize private land for Brooklyn's controversial Atlantic Yards project.
..."It is a great day for New Yorkers concerned about abuses of power," Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein said. "We will vigorously continue to defend our rights. But New York State and Mr. Ratner have a choice: they could avoid our legal challenge by finally taking eminent domain off the table."
Crain's NY Business, Atlantic Yards faces fresh obstacle
Just when it seemed that Forest City Ratner Cos. was overcoming all the obstacles blocking its controversial plan to develop Atlantic Yards, another potentially serious hurdle has emerged.
What Crain's means is "just one day after we wrote a silly whopper of an editorial supporting Atlantic Yards, another potentially serious hurdle has emerged."
WNYC Radio, Court of Appeals to Hear Atlantic Yards Case
By agreeing to hear the case, plaintiffs say, the court has already decided there's a constitutional issue worth settling. They also contend that the appeal will put Ratner dangerously close to a December 31st IRS deadline for issuing tax-exempt bonds. If it takes longer than that to sort out legal questions, Ratner would have to resort to conventional bonds, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more in interest payments. Last year, the court of appeals did decide all of its October cases by December 2nd. If that schedule holds this year, and Ratner wins the appeal, a late December groundbreaking for the basketball arena is still possible.
WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show, Gridlock at Ground Zero
"[Bruce Ratner's] got a very small window of opportunity here, which just got even a little bit smaller today."
[Atlantic Yards segment from 17:10 to 19:10]
NLG: The New York Times's Charles Bagli and WNYC's Andrea Bernstein confuse the dates of the Court hearing and the ESDC public hearings, but the upshot is still not great for Bruce Ratner.
Posted by eric at June 30, 2009 6:24 PM | Permalink
Clueless cheap owners?
NY Metro
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Sound like anyone we know? You betcha!
Posted by eric at June 30, 2009 1:54 PM | Permalink
HEADLINES: Not-so-frivolous eminent domain lawsuit edition
NY Observer, New Uncertainty for Atlantic Yards as Court of Appeals Takes Eminent Domain Suit
New York’s highest court has agreed to hear an eminent domain case over the Atlantic Yards project proposed for Brooklyn, a move that infuses new uncertainty into the planned $4.9 billion development that entails a new Nets basketball arena and 6,400 apartments.
The decision by the Court of Appeals was not expected by the project’s developer—Bruce Ratner and his Forest City Ratner—at least based on its public statements and actions. After a year and a half of stagnation, the development seemed to gain new momentum in recent weeks after an appellate court ruled against opponents. Mr. Ratner had been pushing for new public approvals and renegotiated deals with the stated intent of breaking ground on the arena this fall.
Mr. Ratner already confronts a tight schedule in securing $530 million in tax-free financing for the arena. Based on a Dec. 31 I.R.S. deadline for the financing, the cost of the arena would jump by tens of millions of dollars without a tax exemption, and the task of securing financing would grow substantially harder (the broader real estate financing market is more inclement than the tax-free bond market). Thus the viability of the project seems to depend in large part on how fast the court can turn around a ruling.
NoLandGrab: The ESDC and MTA giveth, and the Court of Appeals taketh away.
Reason Hit & Run, New York Court of Appeals to Hear Atlantic Yards Case
The New York Court of Appeals (the state's highest court) agreed today to hear arguments in the case of Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, which deals with the controversial use of eminent domain on behalf of developer and New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner. As I discussed in an article last week, Ratner is the real estate powerbroker behind the Atlantic Yards redevelopment project in Brooklyn, a massive boondoggle centered on a new basketball arena for the Bruce Ratner-owned Nets.
Things are certainly heating up now. Last Monday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), which controls a crucial 8-acre rail yard at the center of the Atlantic Yards footprint, offered Ratner a massively discounted new offer, whereby he would pay just $20 million up front for the land, then pay another $80 million over the next 22 years. Three years ago, however, the MTA wanted the full $100 million up front (and that's for 8-acres that have been appraised at over $200 million). Bear in mind that the MTA just raised subway and bus fares, yet somehow still has the cash to bail out Ratner and his lousy corporate welfare arena. So much for acting responsibly during an economic recession! As for Ratner, he still needs to raise over $500 million and break ground before the end of the year in order to qualify for tax-exempt status. So it's wonderful news that he'll be tied up in court trying to explain away eminent domain abuse while the clock keeps ticking away.
NY Daily News, Court challenge could delay Ratner plan to break ground at Atlantic Yards in fall
The developer has vowed to break ground this fall, but the latest court action could throw a wrench in those plans.
When a lower court threw out the eminent domain case in May, Ratner told the News: "This is really the last hurdle that we have and now we can do what our company does best and build an arena and houses."
NLG: Actually, Forest City did what it does best last week — secure more handouts of public money courtesy of the MTA and ESDC.
The Local {Fort Greene/Clinton Hill, Court of Appeals to Decide AY Suit
The suit was filed by nine property owners and tenants, including DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein, whose corner of Prospect Heights was deemed “blighted” and whose homes and businesses in the proposed Atlantic Yards footprint have been slated for government seizure.
The Architect's Newspaper Blog, See Bruce in Court!
We recently wrote above how opponent’s best hope of stopping Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards Project was not the departure of Frank Gehry but lawsuits. There was a good possibility the “sweetheart” deals the state had crafted to make Ratner’s project easier to move forward could have triggered further litigation, but it seems it may not even come to that, as the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, has decided to hear Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s challenge to the state’s use of eminent domain.
Nets Daily, Court of Appeals Will Hear Critics’ Lawsuit
New York’s highest court will hear a critics’ appeal against the Empire State Development Corp., further tightening the schedule for Barclays Center and possibly jeopardizing it. The court asked for briefs by July 31, with a hearing in mid-October. The ESDC, Ratner’s partner in the arena project, had asked the court for a hearing in September so Ratner could meet a Dec. 31 deadline for tax emempt bonds.
Curbed, Atlantic Yards Tripped Up Again
In a somewhat surprising decision, the state's highest court has decided to hear the appeal filed by Atlantic Yards opponents in the eminent domain case against New York State.
NY Politics, Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Case To Be Heard By Court of Appeals
Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain Abuse, Appeals Court agrees to hear Atlantic Yards case
Queens Crap, Appeals Court will hear Atlantic Yards case
CastleWatch Daily, New York High Court to Consider Atlantic Yards Suit
Brownstoner, Court of Appeals Will Hear AY Eminent Domain Case
Posted by eric at June 30, 2009 12:40 PM | Permalink
State's highest court accepts eminent domain appeal; oral arguments in October, thus complicating AY end game
Atlantic Yards Report
The Atlantic Yards end game just got a whole lot more complicated.
Despite claims May 15 by Forest City Ratner CEO Bruce Ratner that the unanimous dismissal of the state eminent domain case in May "is really the last hurdle," the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, has accepted (PDF) an appeal in the case and won't hear oral arguments until the middle of October.
While eminent domain law still tilts significantly to the advantage of the condemnor, in this case the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the court's willingness to hear it indicates that it believes the originating court, the Appellate Division, did not address some aspect of the legal argument.
Also, as Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) noted, last year half of all civil appeals were affirmed, and the other half were either reversed (about 40%) or modified (about 10%).
The case is brought by nine residential and commercial tenants and property owners in the AY footprint, and is organized and significantly funded by DDDB.
Delays in groundbreaking, arena bonds
At the very least, the appeal delays Forest City Ratner's announced plans to begin construction by October and severely narrows--but does not close--the window of opportunity to have crucial tax-exempt bonds issued by the end of the year.
Click through for a rundown of the constitutional issues in question.
NoLandGrab: The New York State Court of Appeals has just blasted a very large hole in any and all claims that legal challenges to the use of eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards project have been "frivolous."
Attorney George Locker, who represents a group of Atlantic Yards footprint rental tenants who are fighting condemnation, added this comment to Norman Oder's post:
The appeal halts all moves by ESDC to proceed with relocation and the EDPL Article 4 vesting proceeding. The project has just ground to a halt. There certainly will be no groundbreaking in 2009, and probably no groundbreaking ever. Or maybe the basketball coach sees it differently.
Posted by eric at June 30, 2009 10:15 AM | Permalink
