Weekly Digest: Foreclosure Auction Postponed, Again

After all, it's a "never-say-never project." The mantras of Atlantic Yards point to uncertainty.

This digest (#25) offers a way for people to keep up with my Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog, as well as my other coverage in this newsletter and elsewhere.

Atlantic Yards (aka Pacific Park) has gone on, with so many twists and turns, that it’s tempting to turn to one of the mantras I’ve compiled to put things into perspective.

As I wrote this week, because we had no idea about the announced, but thrice-postponed, foreclosure auction of six railyard development sites, anything could happen.

Because, according to one mantra, “It’s a never-say-never project.” Yes, it was no surprise that it got postponed again. But the ultimate resolution likely will be a surprise.

From this newsletter: Atlantic Yards mantras

June 5: The Mantras of Atlantic Yards. For those who’ve been keeping track, I’ve been adding to my original list, with some borrowed mantras.

Those include “Form follows finance” (thanks, Carol Willis) and “Projects change, markets change” (thanks, Jim Stuckey). Those should be watchwords going forward.

From Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

June 4: Barclays Center crows, per Billboard, it was the world's top-grossing venue in April. (Thank Nicki Minaj and Bad Bunny?) In 2022 annual rankings, it was twelfth. In 2023, it ranked tenth.

That deserves a little perspective. Keep in mind that, in April, Madison Square Garden, the typical annual world leader, was busy with basketball and hockey playoff games.

I don’t doubt that MSG will top Barclays when the year is over. Also, gross does not mean net income.

June 6: For the fourth time, the foreclosure auction of six railyard development sites has been postponed, this time to July.

June 7: Same as it ever was: “That’s how you get [casino] projects done, right? You inflate the job prospects, you inflate the revenue.” Same with Atlantic Yards, as I recall.

June 8: With new Brooklyn office buildings struggling to fill space (even with "HUGS"), that again suggests the future, not-yet-approved Site 5 project would be residential, not office.