Developer Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project "cleared a major hurdle," according to the Daily News, by selling $511 million in tax-free bonds for the arena's financing yesterday. Apparently the bonds were selling like hotcakes—the NY Times says they were sold out in two hours, "Indeed, the demand for the bonds from institutional investors far outstripped what was available and belied the project’s tortured history and court challenges." more ›

The city's Industrial Development Agency has approved to funnel more tax-exempt bonds to the Yankees and Mets. The AP gives the rundown on the numbers, "The Yankees were granted another $259 million in tax-exempt bonds and $111 million in taxable bonds, on top of $940 million in tax-exempt bonds and $25 million in taxable bonds already granted for its $1.5 billion new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The Mets got an additional $83 million, after the $615 million already approved for $800 million Citi Field." Critics of the funding have accused the Yankees and Mets of using the government as a cookie jar, but the Yankees said they needed more money because of rising construction costs. So, when you walk into the new Yankee Stadium or CitiField, feel like an owner—because you partially do! more ›

Late last month, architect Frank Gehry dismissed more than two dozen staffers working on designs for the embattled Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, the Wall Street Journal reports. The terminations came despite the fact that most of the proposed $4.2 billion project—which would include a Nets basketball arena, office towers and thousands of apartments—has not been designed, as Develop Don't Destroy points out. Both Gehry Partners LLP and Forest City Ratner, the company behind the project, declined to comment. But earlier this month Forest City abruptly stopped work at the site, and they don't even have the $100 million to buy the Vanderbilt Rail Yard from the MTA. In a thorough article in this week's Observer, the venture is viewed as being on the verge of "collapse," and Bruce Ratner "seems to be rushing to patch a leaky dam." Ratner may clear the last of his legal hurdles next year, but it's unclear if he'll have the financing to move forward in this current economy. more ›

Sure, the city is facing lower tax revenues and will cut from city agencies' budgets. But when the Yankees and Mets need additional tax-exempt bonds to complete their new stadiums, that's okay! The NY Times reports, "The city also plans to issue $341.2 million in additional tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the Yankees and Mets to complete the stadiums, whose combined cost is about $2.2 billion. The teams are responsible for paying off the bonds, but they pay tens of millions of dollars less in interest because payments to bondholders are exempt from city, state and federal taxes." The teams need the additional bonds because costs have gone up. And since the city and state are paying for hundreds of millions in infrastructure ("parks, garage and transportation improvements"), it turns out, unsurprisingly, that those infrastructure costs have gone up, too. The Independent Budget Office tells the Times, "The additional costs that have emerged make it quite likely that that the city’s net benefit number is now negative.” more ›

In a striking reversal, developer Bruce Ratner has halted work at a location that is integral to his controversial $4.2 billion plan to build a Nets basketball arena, office towers and thousands of apartments in Brooklyn. Ratner has previously insisted that work would continue despite lawsuits attempting to stop the project, even vowing to break ground on the stadium this month. Now a spokesman for his comany, Forest City Ratner, tells the Daily News that "preliminary construction" at the MTA-owned Vanderbilt Rail Yards is being put on hold. more ›

The Village Voice's Neil deMause is liveblogging the hearings about the financing of the new Yankee Stadium. Representative Dennis Kucinich has suggested that the $924 million the Yankees got in tax-exempt bonds may have been improper, hence these hearings. According to the Voice, Kucinich just said the Yankees withheld documents--requested in July--until Wednesday and says this is "evidence they don't want the truth to come out." In other Bombers' big money news, the Daily News' Mike Lupica suggests the Yankees will spend more crazy amounts to get talent so they can win 90 games in the new stadium. more ›

Two years after the IRS proposed tightening rules governing the use of tax-exempt bonds, officials have finally issued a ruling that comes as a huge relief to developer and Nets' owner Bruce Ratner, who has been counting on raising up to $800 million in tax-exempt bonds to pay for a new Brooklyn arena. Though the IRS ruling limits the way tax-exempt bonds can be used in the future, the regulation doesn't apply to "certain projects substantially in progress." That includes not just the Nets arena, but also the new Yankees and Mets stadiums, which are being built with more than $1 billion in tax-exempt bonds and will now take advantage of the ruling to issue more bonds, according to the Times. more ›

Representative Dennis Kucinich suggested approval for $924 million in tax-exempt bonds for the construction of the new Yankee Stadium could be rescinded, due to some questions about the land's value. He said his probe found "substantial evidence of improprieties and possible fraud by the financial architects of the new Yankees Stadium." Last week, the Daily News' Juan Gonzalez had a column noting the city's assessment of the land worked out to be $275/square foot -- but city assessors previously valued it at $25/square foot. The IRS noted the different valuations ($40 million vs. $204 million) and may investigate further. And speaking of new Yankee Stadium, WCBS 880 went on a tour and took some photos. more ›