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.
