Monday, May 18, 2009

Wheels coming off Atlantic Yards project

From Crain's:

Two New York state appeals court rulings could put a wrench in Forest City Ratner Cos.’s plans to build its sprawling Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

The recent rulings give Henry Weinstein, a developer who owns almost an acre within the proposed Atlantic Yards footprint, the right to evict the property’s tenant, Brooklyn developer Jeshayahu Boymelgreen and Forest City.

Forest City was given an illegal assignment to Mr. Weinstein’s properties according to last week’s rulings. The court also said Mr. Weinstein can sue the entities involved in the case for monetary damages. The unanimous decisions reverse a March 2007 decision made by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Ira Harkavy, which allowed Mr. Boymelgreen to remain an occupant despite termination of the lease.


From Atlantic Yards Report:

Forest City Enterprises, 5/13/09 press release:
The Company anticipates investing approximately $169 million of equity to satisfy existing completion guaranty obligations on eight projects currently under construction as of January 31, 2009. In addition, although Forest City does not anticipate commencing any new vertical development in the near term, it does anticipate potential capital needs related to existing development opportunities and the preservation of entitlements on a number of long-term projects of approximately $331 million over the course of the next four years.


Bruce Ratner also doesn't know when he'll break ground for the project.

The plaintiffs in the eminent domain case will appeal the most recent court rejection of their petition.

There are rumors of the Nets being sold...

But one thing that's for sure is Ratner's selling off his properties.

Photo from The Real Deal

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The whole projct was a mess to begin with .With the expansion of metro-tech,area,traffic would have been a nightmare.And who is gonna come to see a second rate basketball team? The local hipsters? The local lower middle class fofk from bed-stuy? People from jersey and the island commute using public transportation everyday to work.They want to drive to events........they ain't comin' either.

Anonymous said...

No one is building currently and in the near future as there is no financing for this project. Additionally, if financing were in place for Atlantic Yards, it would not be built. Why, currently commercial RE is not trading and the value of commercial property is undertermined. This means these type properties already built and performing maybe a better bet to purchase as they become available in distressed situations - which is likelier with some outfits that are over-extended.

Thus why build Altantic Yards in Brooklyn when you can scoop up trophy buildings going begging in Manhattan at hugh 40-60% markdowns?

Anonymous said...

all these mega projects are dead>>>why does bloomburg try and make it seem like they are all alive

Unknown said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the court rule in Ratner's favor?

The project may not be going great guns, but I'm not sure if the wheels are coming off, either.

Queens Crapper said...

The court has been ruling in Ratner's favor for years. He's got no money.