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Early Addition
Did you hear about the new arts and music venue opening in Fort Greene? Well, chances are that all of the blood, sweat, tears and money (over $1M) that went into it may have been for nothing. Amber Art and Music Space was being built out of an old liquor store at Fulton Street and Ashland Place by three friends who are now being told they can no longer develop the space.
At the end of August the trio were told by the director of Brooklyn Planning for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, whose name is fittingly Jack Hammer, that the agency would be seizing their site by eminent domain. The space would be used for the Dancespace Project, a Manhattan-based dance group, ground level retail shops and housing units. Together these new developments would help create a centerpiece for what's being called the BAM Cultural District. The Brooklyn Paper reports:
Lured by the promise of the burgeoning “Lincoln Center of Brooklyn” that the city envisions for the area around BAM, Triplett and his partners invested more than $1 million, and spent a year and a half turning the run-down, three-story space into a performance venue, recording studio and an arts non-profit.The agency claims they announced this in 2004, and because of their "adequate public notice" they seem to be continuing with their plans. It's a shame, the venue looked like it would have been pretty nice -- with three levels, a stage, VIP area, fireplace and lots of space to enjoy some live music. Take a look at the (raw) inside here (video).“We were four weeks away from completion, and we get this letter. The city is f—king us,” said Triplett, who has already gotten a liquor license and booked musical acts into 2008. “I’ve never seen anything this egregious. This is in the tradition of Robert Moses.”
The partners claim that no one — including the broker who secured them the space and the landlord, who let them sign a 10-year lease and has collected $200,000 in rent so far — informed them of the city’s plans for the site.
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booo!!! id like to see that yuppie mayor of ours step in on this one! this city really sucks sometimes.
From the video:
"I travel a lot and go all around the world and I have a lot more fun, it's a lot more laid back and I meet a lot more interesting people....and what we want to do is bring that back to New York City"
-Sad but true New York 2007= less interesting than Omaha, NE.
I feel his pain..
This really need to be addressed in the media - even if it WILL eventually prove to be futile.
Who wants to see some crappy dance troupe anyway?
if the city did actually give "adequate public notice" in 2004, then the broker and the original owner are to blame. i mean the broker and the original owner both should have known about this and provided those guys with this knowledge before selling the property to them. any lawyers or realtors out there? what do you say?
#5 Spoken like the greedy j-- philistine that you are...
wtf! i am so damn sick & tired of eminent domain being abused like this. what the hell kind of republican major doesn't respect individual property rights!?
eminent domain is un american
How can people accept the government theft of property no matter what the excuse?
So... basically in the eyes of the government... you do not really own property. They can take it if they come up with a good enough excuse.
Something is wrong if the american public accepts this type of property theft.
Sounds like they got scammed by the broker and landlord.
Bully Bloomberg will NEVER trump the rights of the State over the individual. Eminent domain has gone wild in Brooklyn.
Ah #7, generally I don't condone putting down dance troupes, but Dancespace really is a *crappy* dance troupe. They've been all but monopolizing St. Mark's Church in the Bowery for years, blocking out gigs a lot more relevant to the community. They get tons of funding because they are safe and staid, yet they wouldn't pay even near market rate for their rent to a venue that could clearly use the money for good. And only about a dozen people show up to their performances.
p.s. I am not #5
You know how i know you're gay?
You're in a dance troupe.
So he wanted to open a bar under the guise of culture? So another bar gets shut down. Big deal.
These guys should get all of our support. Young entrepreneurs trying to do the right thing and getting it taken away...not cool!! How can I help??
#14, the "big deal" is that the government is confiscating their private property with no renumeration and then handing that property over to another private entity. E.D. is supposed to be used only for large public works projects like highways and airports and then only when negotiations to purchase the property at a market rate have failed. If the Dancespace Project wants this property so badly, they are welcome to try to buy it. That is the American way. Freedom can not exist without respect for individual property rights. Without the ability to buy, own, and sell real property all you are is a slave to one master or another.
I actually live in Downtown Brooklyn. I can say confidently that this is really needed, especially in that area. With all the new condos, one of which I live in, there is nothing like this in the immediate area. A music and arts venue with a bar...sounds like a win win win to me! BAM is taking over and the problem is, their stuff is generally boring as hell! How can we stop this?
"How can we stop this?"
-Move to a country where an activist judiciary doesn't strip away individual rights to property ownership at the drop of a hat.
Kelso v. Connecticut, anyone?
Stick a fork in the constitution. It appears to be done.
OK, here's the KEY: "Nobody told us, not the realtor, not the landlord."
Yes, the city's plans have been in place and moving glacially since 2004. I knew that, as do many other people. Sorry the landlord and realtor didn't hold your hand enough. Did you have a lawyer review the deal? Did your lawyer tell you? If not, that's where you should be pointing fingers. No one else is looking out for you but YOU, and the people YOU HIRE to look after you. Please. Just because it's Brooklyn, doesn't mean it's not the real thing, big city style. Watch YOUR OWN BACK, don't be expecting everyone else to be doing it for you if you don't want to pony up to get real advice on what's what!
OK, 1:31 back again...
YOU SPENT $1M and 18 MONTHS to get a RENTAL up and running????? Here's what I think was going on: the owner (and maybe realtor, although could be really clueless -- entirely a possibility) was banking on the idea that the property would never be taken by the city or at least would be taken in a few more years and wanted to make some money on it before then. What is the owner SUPPOSED to do? Sit around and leave the place empty while the city figures out what to do? No. The owner wants to make the rent. If the renter wants to spend $1M+ while paying rent and not asking the questions that need to be asked (via a lawyer, who, now must seem like a bargain, compared to all that flushed money in renovations!)what's the owner supposed to do?
Again, remember, BIG CITY RULES here. Let's not be naive.
#19, what you said makes absolutely no sense at all. Of the hundreds of thousands of companies in this city leasing space, how many of them do you think ask, "Hey, is this building that I'm about to lease going to be condemned through Eminent Domain by the city?" Who does that? I believe that realtors are bonded and licensed for a reason. This was their job and is their problem only.
This pull quote from the original article would seem to back up poster #20, to whit:
“I’m really shocked,” said Daniels. “We asked questions. [Lopez (the building's owner)] did tell me about BAM wanting to buy the building, and that he was renting it because they couldn’t agree on a price.”
While I am opposed to the use of E.D. for things like this, that reasoning from the building owner should have raised red flags and sent Daniels et al looking for a new location. Or at the very least not sinking $1M into something they don't even own.
Regardless of who knew what and when they knew it (the butler in the kitchen with the candle stick), this is truly disturbing and very sad. I'm not sure where this city is headed any longer? Anyone want to go into the stadium building business?
It's a sad thing when dishonesty and greed is rewarded over those with a vision who want to bring something vibrant, interesting and fresh to the community. The arts are being dictated to us by outsiders.
Business owners, very frequently renters, have to sink large sums of money into the space. Commercial leases are like that, you pay to renovate, not the landlord. Granted, this is on the high end, although with a 10 year lease, most likely with an option to renew, it's not that much of a stretch. The city is not taking this for a hospital or a school, shame on them! For a freaking lame dance troup? Mr. Triplett, please SUE.
you know that "I LOVE NEW YORK" campaign with the "I (insert heart here) N Y" logo?
some artist should start a "I HATE NEW YORK" campaign. because this city is just becoming sooooo lame. thank you bloomberg! thanks for abusing eminent domain, reckless rezoning, looking the other way while developers and construction businesses violate code after code while building ugly condos, and most importantly for the death of nyc culture. you'll be remembered for these things!
Wow. Incredible that all that work and effort went to waste , not to mention a great space. I heard back in 1992, that all of the current changes would be taking place but I didnt believe it.I was told that condos would replace downtown bklyn and that myrtle ave would be turned into luxury bldgs all the way to the waterfront.Cant believe it happened just as I was told so long ago.Who would think.Ft Greene turned into middle income although she told me they would be turned into condos back then. A member of my church, an elderly lady on a community board said that these deals for Ratner and Chase were put into play way back in the 80's. It was a done deal then. Just a matter of waiting for leases to run out, etc.When she told me a stadium would be built and nyc would try to get the olympics here, I thought this lady is crazy but I see it all coming to fruition, except the lost bid to host the olympics. Well boy was she ever right on point. Too bad she moved to Virginia cause now I want to know what else is in the works. She saw the writing on the wall long time ago.
Oops..I meant ft greene's walt whitman projects.
I told Amber what was going to happen a long time ago. They ignored my advice. I cannot wait for the truth to come out. 4:07 recommends suing. Hey, why not? You've already thrown away $1M; why not help some lawyers make some money while you're at it.
yep not being interested in some tards in leotards makes ya a phillistine huh?
Ok. Maybe I'm missing something? Why is considered "throwing away" $1 Million if you're expecting to open a business that will return that ten-fold?
I consider it throwing away a $1M if you've been told that you may lose the property in a couple years, pretty much eliminating any reasonable expectation of a ten-fold return.
These guys live in the area. They should have known better. Triplett is in the arts field, and it's been very well publicized that these parking lots would be the BAM Cultural District. It's possible that they were living in a plastic bubble and never read a newspaper or talked to anybody, but to invest that kind of money without doing due diligence? What kind of business plan is that?
If their case is legitimate at all, they have a lawsuit with the landlord and broker. Period.
Eminent Domain law requires that the government reimburse the land OWNER for the land it is taking. As to any tenants...wouldn't their commercial lease just transfer to the new owner, in this case NYC? Does the new owner not have to honor the lease? We don't know the details of the lease so we can only speculate here on some of these points.
In all likelihood the problem here is not with ED law itself but with communication and disclosure and due diligence of the lessee and lessor.
The notion of absolute real property rights in this day and age is IMHO quaint at best. Everyone affects everyone, and the way that property is used also affects everyone else, especially in urban areas. So it is only sensible as a society that we should make an attempt to plan our communities and manage our environment to a certain extent.