Early October Digest: New Developers Coming? Will Platform, as with Hudson Yards, Get Subsidized?

Also, bus plan for Flatbush Ave. and lessons from BMT/Coney votes. New York Liberty exit playoffs, so BSE Global's (short-term) Basketball Training Center in former Modell's gets the buzz.

Oct 07, 2025

This digest offers a way to keep up with my Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog and my other coverage in this newsletter and elsewhere.

It’s been a while since my last digest—about four weeks! There’s a lot of news to catch up on, and some breaking news.

As I wrote yesterday, with just three days notice, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees the project, scheduled a meeting of the (purportedly) advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) for Thursday.

Expect an update on new permitted developers for, essentially, the second half of the project, and planned “Community Engagement.”

Complications

As I wrote in an Aug. 17 FAQ on where things stood, ESD’s failure to enforce a May 2025 deadline for the project’s 876 remaining required affordable housing units, with $2,000/month penalties for each missing unit, undermines confidence in any future promises, even one purportedly guaranteed by a new contract and new developers.

Second, without a proposed plan—how big? how many apartments? how many affordable units? what timeline?—it’s difficult to know how public input might make a difference.

Third, there’s an inevitable tension between financial viability/profit, public benefits, scale, and neighborhood impact—and without knowing more about the developers’ financial deals, it’s hard to assess that.

Another complication: to monetize the six towers over the railyard, an expensive platform must be built, costing hundreds of millions of dollars. That would remedy a key component of the purported “blight” that justified the state’s use of eminent domain.

Will taxpayers now be asked to subsidize the platform, as we recently learned was the solution with the second half of Hudson Yards? Will the new developers valuable buildable square footage for free?

What we don’t know

As I wrote, there’s a complicated set of expected owners, and ownership stakes. A joint venture led by Cirrus Real Estate Partners/Cirrus Workforce Housing, a funding entity, and developer LCOR seems likely to not only pursue development of the six parcels (B5-B10) over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) two-block Vanderbilt Yard, but also Site 5, the parcel across Flatbush Avenue catercorner to the arena.

One question is whether they will seek the same extra bulk that Greenland USA sought in 2023.

The top image indicates what developer Greenland USA in 2021-2023 pursued

Those with a minority stake in the railyard parcels include an affiliate of the U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF), which organized Chinese investors under the EB-5 investor visa program, and Fortress Investment Group, a frequent USIF collaborator.

Greenland USA, which took over as master developer from original developer Forest City Ratner, seems to have lost some but not all development rights over the railyard. It would still have a stake in the Site 5 parcel catercorner to the arena, to which developers have long sought to move the bulk of the unbuilt B1 tower, once slated to loom over the arena.

Unofficial rendering. Others are needed.

Big questions

At the meeting, ESD should explain this to the public.

How much does each company own? What are the contingencies regarding Greenland’s assets?

Does Cirrus’s control reflect its investment, or something else? How does Cirrus’s share in the railyard parcels trump that of the USIF and Fortress?

See the rest of the FAQ here.

About basketball

In the past few week, the defending WNBA champions New York Liberty exited the playoffs quickly—and fired Coach Sandy Brondello.

That makes the “Liberty Portraits,” the art/promotion installation on the plaza, celebrating the 2024 victory, quite outdated. (They remain, but were supposed to be removed this month, surely before the Brooklyn Nets’ home opener on Oct. 24.)

As shown in the photo below, the Liberty Portraits still have synergistic value, as BSE Global is now hawking 2026 season tickets.

Liberty advertising, Liberty promotion, Oct. 7, 2024. Photo: Norman Oder

Still, the owners of BSE Global got a nice bounce opening the new Brooklyn Basketball Training Center in the old Modell’s on Flatbush Avenue opposite the arena, with all the owners, including minority owner David Koch Jr., on hand.

The Brooklyn Nets are in pre-season mode, opening the regular season in about two weeks. That Training Center may turn kids into generational fans, but this year is, at best, a rebuilding one.

Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, Oct. 7, 2025. It’s pricey inside. Photo: Norman Oder

As suggested in the photo above—which unlike promotion photos suggests traffic!—the parcel is temporary, as larger buildings appear on the horizon, along Fourth Avenue.

A building larger than those on the horizon, one 250 feet tall, is already approved for Site 5, the parcel including the Training Center and P.C. Richard, but, as shown in a graphic above, the developers of Site 5 have had far more ambitious plans, aiming for 910 feet.

From this newsletter: a bus plan for Flatbush Ave.

Sept. 12: Bus Priority Plan on Flatbush Avenue Would Leave Little Slack Near Barclays Center.

With “No Standing” in pockets near arena, wouldn’t enforcement be needed to prevent congestion? Also, change in Pacific Street direction could challenge Site 5 construction.

Though I get why they’re making these changes, there are, I suspect, a lot of risks. Presumably there will be options to adjust in light of real-world results.

From this newsletter: BMT and Coney

Sept. 22: Lessons from Twists in Brooklyn Marine Terminal and Coney Island Development Dramas.

For Atlantic Yards, does this mean that new promises and safeguards get a “big thing” done in the name of “abundance”? Or is a rethink possible? I’ll be writing more on the BMT plan.

From this newsletter: the Hudson Yards example

Sept. 29: If Hudson Yards Got Taxpayers to Pay for the Platform, What Happens With Atlantic Yards?

The Manhattan megaproject rose from the dead thanks to little-scrutinized political and financial maneuvers. Keep watch in Brooklyn.

The visible block of the Vanderbilt Yard, between Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues, would support three towers: B8-B10. Photo: Norman Oder

Remember, it’s a “never-say-never project.

From Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Sept. 10: Photos: in-progress Brooklyn Basketball training facility at old Modell’s site opposite Barclays. Coming: an illuminated sign and illuminated walls. Opens Sept. 25.

Sept. 15: The New York Liberty’s first home playoff game is Wednesday, preceded by amplified sound on Barclays Center’s Ticketmaster Plaza 6-8 pm.

Sept. 17: Latest lobbying reports shed no new light on Cirrus-led joint venture pursuing Atlantic Yards. There’s little chance of enforcement, so they can be opaque.

A note on newsletter nomenclature

Close readers may have noticed that this newsletter, which began in December 2023 as Learning from Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, is now called Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report (Substack).

The latter is to distinguish from my Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park blog, on Blogger, which appears more frequently and goes back to 2006!

I still will aim to reserve round-up digest posts for this Substack, as well as longer, more in-depth articles. But the name, unfortunately, was a mouthful, and I don’t think it took.

For those who’ve read to the end, please let me know what you think, either by posting a comment or just replying by email.

Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report (Substack)