Atlantic Yards

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The Atlantic Yards is a mixed-use commercial and residential development project of 16 buildings, currently proposed in the neighborhoods of Prospect Heights, and Park Slope, adjacent to Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York City. The centerpiece of the development, according to the developers, would be the Barclays Center, which would serve as the new home of the New Jersey Nets. 8.4 acres of the 22 acre project would be built over a train yard that is utilized by the Long Island Rail Road, and a portion of the site was a part of the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area. The Atlantic Yards project is being developed and overseen by Forest City Ratner and designed by architect Frank Gehry.

Its derives its name from being the rail yard located on Atlantic Avenue. Officially the Long Island Rail Road yard is called the "Vanderbilt Yards" (named for a Vanderbilt Avenue that goes to the Brooklyn Naval Yards but there are other Vanderbilt rail place names in New York City so the Atlantic Yards name has stuck. The specific stop for the LIRR is the Atlantic Terminal is the westernmost stop of the Atlantic Branch of the LIRR. Its rail and subway hub status along with the fact that no structures were above the yard made it a target for development.

Despite ongoing litigation, preparatory sitework in anticipation of construction has started as of February 20, 2007.[1]

The Vanderbilt Railyards represents 8.4 acres of the 22 acre site (as seen in September 2006)
The Vanderbilt Railyards represents 8.4 acres of the 22 acre site (as seen in September 2006)

Contents

[edit] Elements of the Atlantic Yards Project

[edit] Barclays Center

Main article: Barclays Center

The Barclays Center, would serve as the new home of the National Basketball Association’s New Jersey Nets, which was purchased by a group lead by principal developer Bruce Ratner with the intention of making it and the arena the centerpiece of whole project. This would bring major league professional sports to Brooklyn for the first time since the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, California after the 1957 season. The arena’s design includes an ice skating rink and private park space on its roof. The arena represents about 10% of the Ratner proposal.

The naming rights to the arena were purchased by Barclays, the British bank, for a record-setting price of nearly $400 million over 20 years. This eclipsed the previous record for naming rights to an American indoor arena. The previous record, set by Royal Phillips Electronics in 1999, was for $185 million over 20 years paid to name Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

The proceeds of the naming rights will go to the developer, not to the state of New York, which would nominally own the land. The naming rights deal provoked additional controversy because Barclays has been accused of being associated with the South African apartheid regime, Robert Mugabe and Nazi financing.

[edit] Housing

The largest portion of the proposal is mixed-income residential housing. Of the 6,430 units, 1,930 will be market-rate condominiums. The remaining 4,500 will be rental units, half of which will be set aside for moderate, middle, and low income households.

[edit] Commercial space

The remaining buildings in the Atlantic Yards would be used for office space and retail development.

[edit] Transportation

The development sits on the most congested intersection in Brooklyn. According to the Environmental Impact Statement, the addition of more than 15,000 new residents would not significantly impact vehicular traffic, a claim contested by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods.

[edit] Subway station

The Atlantic Yards would be above the Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street subway station, the largest train station in Brooklyn and the third largest transit hub in New York City, serving 11 different New York City Subway lines.

[edit] Long Island Railroad

The Atlantic Terminal serves the Atlantic Branch of the Long Island Railroad. Construction might preclude the extension of the LIRR to Lower Manhattan.

[edit] Buses

The site of the Atlantic Yards is currently served by five bus lines, B41, B45, B63, B65 and B67. However, bus routes change throughout the years, and may be changed to accommodate the Atlantic Yards project.

[edit] Financing

The development would be paid in part by private financing and in part by public subsidies. New York State has committed to $100 million of taxpayer money and New York City is giving $205 million in direct contributions. In addition, there are approved tax breaks and subsidies to pay for the project, bringing the total known public money to be used in the project to approximately $1.929 billion. The tax subsidies include:

  • $360 million - 30 Year Full Property Tax Exemption (if the lease for its full term of 99 years, the abatement would exceed $1 billion)
  • $77 million - Mortgage Recording Tax Exemption
  • $610 million - 9.1 Million Square Feet of Development Rights (A $910 million value for which Ratner pays approximately $300 million, including a discounted, closed-door price for the Rail Yards, without genuine competitive bidding; Vanderbilt Rail Yards appraised value: $214.5 million, Ratner bid $100, Extell bid $150 million)
  • $555.3 million - Tax-Exempt and Taxed Bonding for the Arena
  • $101 million - Housing Construction Subsidies
  • $26 million - Forest City Pays $1.00 for a 99 year lease for all the land under the Arena, its garages and access ways, including City street, a total of 6.5 acres

In addition to the known subsidies, the unknown subsidies include:

  • Unspecified (and unlimited) additional funds for "extraordinary infrastructure costs"
  • Government subsidies and/or tax credits to provide for "affordable housing"
  • Credit for any costs which Ratner incurs in relocating and installing public utility infrastructure
  • Guaranties from the City, the Empire State Development Corporation and the EDC that they will "use their best efforts" to obtain energy cost savings for the Arena for an unspecified period of time
  • Arena construction materials and fixtures sales tax exemption
  • Credit under the Brownfield Program if Forest City has to spend more than $20 million in remediation of environmental hazards

[edit] Land to be used

The proposed development rests at one of the most desirable neighborhoods in New York City. Prospect Heights has seen remarkable explosion of real estate values, pushing out many of the less affluent residents. Critics charge that the few unused buildings are "developer's blight," that is to say, buildings bought by Forest City Ratner and then left vacant.

The bulk of the 22 acre project site is a mixture of public streets, private homes and small businesses. Forest City Ratner has bought much of this private property, but does not own the public streets and intends to use eminent domain to seize the remaining property from private homeowners and businesses. The Public Authorities Control Board, which effectively ended the West Side Stadium plan, approved the Atlantic Yards plan and use of eminent domain. [2] However, the plan still faces lawsuits from residents.

[edit] Controversy

The main controversy concerning the development of the Atlantic Yards is the use of eminent domain which would destroy a mixed income neighborhood. Developers had offered tenants up to $1 Million to leave their homes, plus guarantee them an apartment in the complex at the same rent they were paying.

Another controversial aspect of the development is that the rail yard was valued at $214 Million in 2005, and is in contract with the favored developer for $100 Million, despite another bid for $150 Million. Even though this property was appraised at $214 in 2004, the MTA decided to negotiate exclusively with Forest City Ratner, which originally bid $50 Million. Extell Corporation bid $150 Million, and FCR eventually boosted its bid up to $100 million. The Extell bid, however, was contingent on a contract for the company to provide energy to the city from a power plant that would have been constructed in the location.

[edit] Public opinion

Main article: Atlantic Yards public opinion

[edit] Supporters

The project is endorsed by the MTA and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been strongly supported by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who sees this project as the opportunity to finally produce the business district in Brooklyn that was intended with the construction of the Williamsburg Savings Bank but was halted by the Great Depression. Governor Pataki, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, Congressman Edolphus Towns, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, Congressman Anthony Weiner, and Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. have also supported the project as necessary for the economic development of Brooklyn and New York City.

  • [3] Borough President Markowitz in 12/30/06 Brooklyn Papers interview rails against media coverage and project opponents

[edit] Opponents

The most vocal opposition group is a nonprofit named Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. Three of the four local elected representatives in the neighborhood also oppose the project, especially New York City Council member Letitia James. Other organizations that are opposed to or seek to scale back the project include: 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, Boerum Hill Association (BHA), Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID), Committee For Environmentally Sound Development, Creative Industries Coalition (80 local businesses, galleries and collectives), Democracy for New York City (DFNYC).

[edit] References

    [edit] External links

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