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Atlantic Yards

By Kim Velsey 3/28 7:15pm

Atlantic Yards

What about the Yards part of Atlantic Yards? (Dope on the Slope, flickr)

A Deck Delayed: Will Atlantic Yards Have To Wait For Blight-Concealing Rail Platform?

In the last few months, the battle cries of the Atlantic Yards opponents have quieted—or been drowned out by the hubbub of basketball games and concerts at Barclays. There has been a subtle shift in tone and subject matter, with the conversation turning away from Atlantic Yards and the bitter debate that has characterized so much of the development’s history.

But despite the shift in focus, the eastern end of Downtown Brooklyn remains scarred by an open railyard—an 8.5-acre tear in the urban fabric that Forest City Ratner is supposed to someday heal.

The platform over Vanderbilt Yards, as it’s known, is the difference between a highly challenging “blighted” development site—arguably deserving of special subsidies, tax breaks and the seizure of private land through eminent domain—and a prime development site in a plum location. Read More

By Kit Dillon 11/26/12 5:15pm

Atlantic Yards

The profits.

Barclays Center Sells almost $50 Million in Tickets in Six Months, Decides Devaluation is a Mistake

While searching around the Municipal Bond Database (as is our wont)The Observer stumbled upon the quarterly cash receipts of ArenaCo, subsidiary of Forest City Ratner Corporation and the owner operator of Barclays Center.  The reports revealed a whopping $46,866,337.14 in sales from tickets, suites and sponsor installments between April 1st, 2012 and September 30th, 2012.

All of which amounts to just a drop in the bucket of the total $510,999,996.50 PILOT Revenue Bond issue currently being paid off by ArenaCo in payments in lieu of taxes to the city or state. This is good news for the bond holders, who presumably need all the help they can get. After all, their bond holdings are currently being given a BBB- rating, the lowest rating a bond issue can have while still being considered investment grade and one which ranks Arena Co and Barclays Center in the same investment strata as the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority. Read More

By Kim Velsey 8/27/12 7:43pm

Atlantic Yards

What weathering steel looks like up close.

Barclay’s Arena Rusted-Out Look Not a Huge Hit With Everyone

Now that the finishes touches are being put on Barclay’s Arena, it has become apparent to neighbors and passers-by that the building will not be getting a coat of paint to cover its rusty exterior. Because it’s supposed to be that way. While this is old news to most neighborhood opponents—who zealously perused construction designs—it has surprised some others.

“I thought they were going to paint it,” commented one man to The New York Times, which has a story about the structure’s rusty surface. Read More