By Norman Oder http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2010/04/3-million-vs-131-million-and-25-years.html
It is dismaying but unsurprising that the news coverage about Daniel Goldstein’s settlement to vacate the apartment he and his family occupies focuses mainly on the $3 million payment by Forest City Ratner (worth considerably less to him), but does not mention the $131 million that city taxpayers have contributed to pay for nearly half the property the developer has purchased or the Development Agreement that sets a 25-year deadline for the project, rather than the ten years promised by the developer and the state.
Yes, the surprising settlement is news, and worthy of debate. But so is the larger context.
Atlantic Yards is a giant development planned for 22 acres near Brooklyn’s downtown that will include a planned 8 million square feet of apartments, offices, stores and an arena for the New Jersey Nets. The $4.9 billion development has been hobbled by lawsuits, the recession and its own ambitious goal to build 6,400 apartments, 40 percent of which would be reserved for low- to middle-income families. Its signature element, a Frank Gehry design for the arena, was scrapped in June 2009 for a simpler, less expensive approach. Officials broke ground on March 11, 2010.
Aside from the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, Atlantic Yards is the largest project in the city moving forward. The redevelopment of the 26-acre Hudson Yards in Manhattan and dozens of other projects have been slowed or stopped by a flagging economy and a lack of real estate financing.
The last major obstacle to a groundbreaking for the development fell on Nov. 24 when New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, dismissed a challenge to the state’s use of eminent domain on behalf of Mr. Ratner. In December 2009, the proceeds from a much-needed $511 million in tax-exempt bonds went into an escrow account, and Mr. Ratner also secured a $400 million naming-rights deal with Barclays Bank for the arena.
