November Digest and Meeting Preview: New Development Team, Light Penalties, Murky Plans
Will "Community Engagement," starting tonight, help shape a new plan or ratify what's already cooking?
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 was Oct. 7, so instead of proceeding purely chronologically, I’ll go thematically.
Notably, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees the project, last month approved a new development team, led by the joint venture Cirrus Real Estate Partners and LCOR, and negotiated a small, almost symbolic, payment of the affordable housing penalties—on paper, $2,000/month, per unit—that are accruing for the 876 units.
Tonight is the first of four workshops seeking public input on the project. focusing on height & density, open space, affordability, and housing types, aiming to “identify community priorities, challenges, and opportunities.”
When I checked yesterday at 4:40 pm, the workshop was “Sold Out.” The location, the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center at the former Modell’s site opposite the arena, isn’t too small, so will the place be packed?
Big picture
Details regarding the new development team emerged just before—and then at—an Oct. 9 meeting of the (purportedly) advisory Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC). It was the first opportunity, as I wrote for City Limits, for them to face the public.
This time, said Joseph McDonnell of Cirrus, is different.
He cited “mission-driven equity,” not focused on the highest return, and a “true public-private partnership” involving the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council, whose pension funds support Cirrus projects and who will offer predictable costs via a project labor agreement.
Moreover, McDonnell contended, “the largest subsidy provider to this project is no doubt [former developer Greenland USA]. They put $950 million into the ground, and they also built a railyard.”
That said, he was rather cagey about what public assistance would be sought to build the platform and the towers.
A new development team
Oct. 8: With Cirrus/LCOR team finally in place, 10 months--and a mere $12M for absent affordable housing--toward a new plan. Big questions remain, but NYS is on board.
Oct. 10: AY CDC overview: criticism of damages for missing affordable housing, optimism about new permitted developer, big Qs re scale, subsidies, affordability
Oct. 15: New Development Team Promises Atlantic Yards Progress, But Housing Penalties Called ‘Insufficient’ (from City Limits).
The new development team—the third since the megaproject was announced in 2003—has agreed to pay $12 million as they plan a new way forward.
A key advocate, Michelle de La Uz of the housing advocacy nonprofit Fifth Avenue Committee, deemed that “insufficient” given the 876 unbuilt affordable apartments, which were supposed to be constructed by May 31. (As a member of the coalition BrooklynSpeaks, de la Uz helped negotiate that penalty.)
Oct. 23: Are Larger Market-Rate Apartments in Brooklyn Marine Terminal Plan Key to the 40% Affordability Promise?
Below-market apartments are smaller. So, they might occupy less than 40% of the square footage--at least if the city’s placeholder assumption is borne out. Same for the revised Atlantic Yards?
Also note the limited amount for bonds and direct subsidy, as shown in the slide above.
Oct. 29: Waiting for a New Plan. Lots of Big Questions. The project is moving ahead, but we don’t know the proposed scale, scope, affordability, and design, nor what public concessions the new development team will seek. A new deadline in the 2040s?
Nov. 4: The Murky Path to Cirrus’s Control of the Remaining Project
Was the key element debt regarding the B1/Site 5 parcels, or advantageous contract language in the second EB-5 loan? What about the EB-5 middleman? The explanations don’t fully make sense. Perhaps more will emerge.
Oct. 17: As Project Reboots, a Tight--but Augmented--Schedule for Community Engagement, Starting Next Month.
Advisory group thought two in-person sessions, then an online wrap-up, couldn’t address issues like housing, density, transportation, public space and more. Now ESD has added a fourth workshop.
Workshop approaches
Nov. 5: First public workshop on project’s future (density, open space, affordability) set for Nov. 18. (Two hours!) Does new outline suggest potential reconfiguration?
Nov. 7: Workshop on Height & Density Ignores Plan for Two Towers Across from Arena, Hints at New Configuration Over Railyard.
This is a reason for skepticism. While the session purports to solicit public input, ESD already supports a giant project at Site 5. The blank map for the railyard points to a revision of the extant six-tower plan.
Nov. 13: Tight schedule: second workshop on project’s future announced for Dec. 8. “Project Briefer” omits key information re planned density.
Nov. 15: Beyond Height & Density, Key Questions About “Pacific Park” Open Space. The Pacific Park Conservancy is an unaccountable phantom. Is the new joint venture even involved?
Also, shouldn’t the arena operator have to pay for a permanent plaza, today sponsored by Ticketmaster?
Nov. 16: If “There Really Is No Accountability,” as Per Former ESD Executive, Why Not Involve Third-Party Experts?
The first Atlantic Yards Project Director came clean after leaving her post. As a new project plan looms, the argument deserves expansion. After all, let’s compare the official map, at top below, with a more informative map I created, at bottom.
Nov. 17: The BrooklynSpeaks Advice on Tomorrow’s Meeting--and What’s Missing.
The coalition has worthy words on affordable housing, density, open space, and accountability. But it shouldn’t ignore the concessions likely sought, the trade-offs, and the bad faith.
Miscellaneous and Mamdani
Note: I haven’t written (yet) about incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who burst out of the pack to become the Democratic nominee, beating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo—whose campaign was desultory and then negative—in the primary and then in the general election, as incumbent, scandal-tinged Mayor Eric Adams having first planned to run as an independent but later dropping out.
Campaigning on “affordability,” related especially to buses, child care, and freezing the rent for rent-stabilized units, Mamdani likely will be pressured to “deliver” more affordable housing at the Atlantic Yards site. One key question, however, will be whether it would be the best use of scarce city subsidies and bonding capacity.
Oct. 12: Was the Atlantic Yards Conflict Merely Between Competing Short-Term Interests?
To one critic, the 2011 documentary “Battle for Brooklyn” seems like “ancient history.” Still, it depicts the project’s enduring taint and leaves lessons about skepticism, as a new phase awaits.
Oct. 28: Construction union advocates need a better example than Atlantic Yards to highlight less costly development projects. After all, original developer Bruce Ratner said the affordability plan wouldn’t “work for a high-rise building that’s union built.”
Nov. 3: To me, the housing ballot proposals seemed confounding. They still passed, and will empower the mayor’s office over the City Council.
The Barclays Center and its tenants
Oct. 13: As the Brooklyn Nets return from China, signs that owner Joe Tsai has helped repair the NBA’s business relationships (and helped his firm Alibaba).
Oct. 20: Opening week Nets hype. Barclays Center discloses amplified sound on plaza before home opener Fri. New food, musical promotions. But “Brooklyn Block” paused.
Oct. 21: Sportico: After 43% jump in 2024, value of Brooklyn Nets’ parent BSE Global grew only 9%, now NBA’s 6th most valuable. Owner Tsai key in NBA China ventures.
Hmmm—why can’t BSE Global be asked to pay for the permanent plaza? They’ve got the bucks.
Oct. 22: As Brooklyn Nets season starts, it was finally time to remove the Liberty Portraits from the arena plaza.
Oct. 24: Right in time for the Brooklyn Nets home opener, the Barclays Center opens Gallagher Terrace and Modelo® Bridge
Oct. 27: As New York Liberty gain three new investors, including Robin Roberts, new signs of synergy.
Oct. 30: Forbes ranks Liberty’s Stewart and (lead) owner Wu Tsai among top ten America’s Most Powerful Women in Sports.
Oct. 31: As the Brooklyn Nets struggle and “tank,” lots of backlash, including toward non-cheap tickets.
Nov. 1: Barclays Center releases November 2025 event calendar: eleven concerts and seven Brooklyn Nets games, plus a Liberty “Merch Shop.”
Nov. 10: As Barclays Center touts rise in Caribbean concerts, the Brooklyn Paper offers a puff piece on the arena’s chief programmer. Two decades ago, that newspaper was a watchdog. It’s easier this way.