My Free Atlantic Yards Tour: May 3
A head's up on my annual free tour, part of Jane's Walk weekend.
I’m away, so my newsletter will resume in two weeks, though my Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog will resume before then. But here’s a bonus for subscribers.
Mark your calendars: my annual free tour of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, will be on Friday May 3 at 6 pm, part of the annual Jane’s Walk weekend of free tours, honoring the urbanist and author Jane Jacobs, under the auspices of the Municipal Art Society.
It should last 90 minutes to 2 hours. Save the above link for information—not yet available—about registration (and meeting place), which should go live in April.
I titled the 2023 version “A Megaproject Unresolved: What Happened with Atlantic Yards?” and have kept that title for 2024.
Newly unresolved
One new—and particularly unresolved—issue is the foreclosure of developer Greenland USA’s rights to develop six towers (B5-B10) over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Vanderbilt Yard. (Yes, that’s complicated!)
The foreclosure action, pursued by the manager of the fund lending $349 million raised from immigrant investors seeking visas under the EB-5 program, was announced in November, with an auction scheduled for January..
That auction was postponed for a month, and then postponed to April 30.
That’s not surprising, and it’s not unlikely that auction will again be rescheduled. After all, the buyers would not simply by acquiring rights to build on terra firma.
Building those towers requires commitment to build a platform (or deck) over the working railyard, to complete payment to the MTA for railyard development rights, and—most crucially—to build affordable housing.
Negotiations coming?
If the auction does go forward, we might have some breaking news to discuss on the tour: the fate of the project, with perhaps a new developer and some new timelines.
Remember, the current master developer, Greenland, is obligated to deliver a total of 2,250 below-market apartments by May 2025, with 876 (or 877) to go, or face liquidated damages of $2,000/month for each missing unit.
Will Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, consider waiving the fines, or extending the deadline, as part of a negotiation to encourage a new developer?
That would surely stir local outrage. On the other hand, ESD is committed to seeing the project completed, which points toward some compromise.
Whether or not the auction proceeds and/or negotiations surface, we’ll still have a lot to see, and talk about, including new images of the potential future development produced by graphic designer Ben Keel.
One example is above, but click here for more, including animations.
Other tours
By the way, I do offer fee-based private tours of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, as well as various neighborhoods in Brooklyn (plus a few in Queens and in Manhattan), for just a few people, or small groups, including classes.
In case you’re wondering, my earnings from journalism barely cover my business expenses, so my work as a tour guide helps me do under-compensated journalism. The Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park tour turns out to be a convergence.