Ratner Doubles His Bid for Atlantic Yards

It's so nice to see what a little pressure can do: Bruce Ratner and his Forest City Ratner group have increased their bid to $100 million for the Atlantic railyards. Ratner wants to put not only a Brooklyn Nets Frank Gehry-designed arena there but thousands of condos and countless square feet for offices (the Times loved the design). This higher bid comes because of the lone rival bid from Extell, whose development plan lacks the intense community opposition and does not require millions in subsidies borne out by the city and state. So, as it stands, Extell's bid for the land is $150 million, while Ratner's is now $100 million (and he claimed an earlier bid was worth more than $300 million because of upgrades to the railyards he'll make).

The Independent Budget Office says that the development would bring in more than $107 million in revenue over the next 30 years, which is "modest but positive." The Observer's Matthew Schuerman explains that the city would make $1 million a year, whereas the state gets $70.5 million over the period, and that the IBO didn't include what the condos and office space would do for revenues. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, though, thinks the deal is still too raw.

Here's the MTA's RFP for the Atlantic, aka Vanderbilt, Yards.

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By Jen Chung in News on September 7, 2005 8:19 AM

Comments [rss]

Norman Oder

The Times somehow left out the fact that the property was appraised at $214.5 million. I've dissected Times coverage of the Atlantic Yards project in a report and blog, both available at the linked URL.

JIm

Haters? Don't get it mixed - I just don't want to PAY for the damn thing. If you pay taxes in NY, your money will be going to fund this crap. Bruce Ratner and the Nets don't need my money. And don't tell me about "jobs coming to the neighborhood". If you want jobs in the neighborhood, build a headquarters for Merrill Lynch. What's so special about the Nets that I should pay for a place for them to do business?

gizmo

I'm all for the plan too. Too many haters in NYC.

J S

Nope, you're not the only one. I am a Brooklynite who really likes this plan. Though obviously I think the community leaders should get their say about affordable housing and the need for more services. But we shouldn't prevent Brooklyn from getting some of the most radically brilliant buildings in the country because of short sighted conservatism.

h

i like the slanty buildings. and i'm definitely not in on the deal. i can't be the only one.

Gan Doldstein

Ratner haters/NIMBYs can take comfort in knowing Ratner's arena will be the most expensive in the league, meaning the Nets won't be making money.

see http://netsdaily.com/

paki

SO UGLY

El Jefe

Every time I see this particular picture, I cannot help but think of the "tuned" buildings rising up in the movie "Dark City".

The Infamous J_Biz

The Times 'loves the design' because they're partnering with Ratner to build a new HQ for their rag.

They also included a bogus survey in the paper urging Brooklyn residents to voice support for the project, no doubt to lend 'credence' to some spurious 'poll results' they'll print in a later issue.

The conflict of interest here is ridiculous. This is the equivalent of asking the Washington Times to rate the Moonies latest mass marriage.

He doubled the bid? Guess you can do that when you're getting handed a ten-year tax rebate to seize private property and use public funds to fund a personal enterprise. The bidding process is rigged, and more crooked than the Brooklyn Democratic party.

Plus, they're demolishing Freddy's.

It's all bad