Reply With QuoteRockefeller Center?Originally Posted by Jasonik
I think you're referring to this one in NY Newsday:
BY PRADNYA JOSHI AND JOSHUA ROBIN
STAFF WRITERS
July 26, 2005
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's four representatives on the MTA board will vote in favor of a proposal to build a $3.5-billion development in Downtown Brooklyn that several community group oppose, several city and MTA officials told Newsday Monday.
Support from Bloomberg's delegates on the board adds strong momentum to Forest City Ratner's plan to build a housing and office complex complete with a basketball arena for the Nets. Gov. George Pataki, Bloomberg and numerous influential leaders have already thrown their support behind the Ratner plan, known as the Atlantic Yards project.
Ratner and another developer, Extell Development Co., are vying to build real-estate projects above the MTA's Vanderbilt Yard in Brooklyn. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board is expected to choose a bid tomorrow, and board members have already been briefed on the details.
Several community groups oppose the Ratner project because of congestion and size concerns, and they are asking the MTA to delay its vote.
But sources say that even if the MTA picks a developer tomorrow, the authority could negotiate a better price or make other changes to the plan before entering into contract.
Ratner has offered $50 million in cash but pegs its bid at $329.5 million in what the company calls "economic benefits." Extell has offered $150 million in cash and says its proposal is three times Ratner's value.
Both cash amounts fall short of a $214.5 million appraisal done for the MTA.
Neither Pataki nor his officials have made calls to his six representatives, according to MTA board members and Pataki's office. But his board members are known to hew closely to his desires.
MTA chairman Peter Kalikow can vote a second time to break a tie. Kalikow, a real-estate developer and political patron of Pataki, was unavailable for comment. Other members represent nearby counties.
Suffolk representative Mitchell Pally said he has been briefed on the proposals but has asked for more information and will wait until tomorrow to hear the debate before deciding.
"I don't want to preclude my fellow board members who may have opinions or issues that I never raised," said Pally, vice president for government affairs of business group the Long Island Association.
Bloomberg's delegates were more convinced in favor of Ratner's plan.
One person involved with the mayor's delegation sees the arena and housing proposal as worth $281 million -- $50 million in cash and the remainder in environmental and infrastructure improvements. However, Extell doesn't plan to use controversial eminent domain laws to take over private property in the area, as Ratner has proposed.
The cash-strapped MTA is trying to raise as much as $1.4 billion for its own projects, substantially from selling off property rights to land it owns.
Assemb. Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) said yesterday that the MTA should negotiate with one developer or the other to realize the "full market value" of its site.
Staff writer Glenn Thrush contributed to this story.
Rockefeller Center?
I hope you're right. This Extell thing would be a disaster and one of the largest wasted opportunities in the history of NYC.
http://www.archpaper.com
Developmentally Challenged
Developers have been catching on that brand-name architects and community outreach can add dollar value to their projects. That’s a big development in itself, but doesn’t always translate to good development. Peter Slatin reflects on how developers can do good while doing well.
The sudden tussle between developers over Brooklyn’s Atlantic rail yards throws into grand scale a classic New York question: Do developers give a damn about how their buildings impact a given community?
Bruce Ratner, wearing Frank Gehry on his sleeve from the get-go, rode into Brooklyn Borough Hall in December 2003 to unveil a master plan for an arena-anchored district, which includes millions of square feet of office, retail, and residential real estate, much of which will rise from a platform built over the Atlantic rail yard. The plan, which would overwhelm the two adjacent, low-scale neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Prospect Heights, has also had community opposition from the get-go. This hasn’t stopped it from ballooning in ambition, scale, and budget. But despite the project’s unwieldy size, difficult financing, and an angry community, Ratner’s chances of winning the bid for the rail yards, being auctioned off by the MTA, are excellent. He started from the top down, lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
>A community group, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, began contacting developers in hopes of finding one that would make an alternate bid. Enter Gary Barnett and Extell Development Corporation with their scaled-down scheme: 2,000 units topping out at 28 stories compared to Ratner’s 6,000 units at 60, spread out over 8 acres instead of 21. Extell’s architect is Cetra/Ruddy, a decent if uninspired production firm whose vision lacks the punch and excitement of Gehry’s fistful of highrises. The Extell scheme does, however, provide connecting tissue and green space for the two low-scale, old Brooklyn neighborhoods that will be divided under Ratner’s plan. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
What does all this say about whether developers care about the places they transform? The answer is, They do care…up to a point. Good development is almost always a trade-off that begins and ends with the pencil—and I’m not talking about the drafting pencil. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
It also says that good-guy developers can switch hats, well, on a dime. Barnett is a white knight in this part of Brooklyn, but he is under heavy fire from Upper West Siders railing against his plans for two skyscrapers straddling Broadway at 99th and 100th streets. (The project is now under even more scrutiny after a structure on the 100th Street site collapesed on July 14.) Ratner, at one time the city’s commissioner of consumer affairs, is the cat’s meow to sports fans seduced by the idea of the major leagues returning to the borough, but others see his plan as antithetical to everything Brooklyn, even though he has hired one of the world’s great architects. The architects of Cetra/Ruddy might be regarded as heroes in Fort Greene and Prospect Heights, but in Red Hook they are the bad guys, having designed the six-story residential project at 160 Imlay Street that the local Chamber of Commerce recently tried to halt (See “By Hook or Crook,” page 1). The point is, you never know who the good guy is. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
The good news is that more and more developers want to be the good guy. They are patronizing good architecture, even if their motivations are not entirely altruistic. Good design sells, in the end, better than bad design. It lasts longer, both physically and psychically; it creates its own set of values. Developers have also realized that good design is not the province of well-known architects. Indeed, we’ve seen some pretty horrible work by high-profile architects in prominent locations—work that can drastically alter the character of a neighborhood, like Astor Place, for example. In such an event, one can only hope that the pre-existing condition has enough depth and breadth to sustain itself. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
Given these circumstances and the multiple real-world challenges that confront any project, it’s especially exciting when good development—informed but not intimidated by context and community—comes into place. And good development is happening throughout the city on a wide variety of scales and property types. Even as examples of tired design and cheap production abound, one can find reason to celebrate smart efforts at different stages of development, especially in residential and office design. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
Take the small Chelsea/Meatpacking District projects of developer Jeffrey M. Brown. From the start, both in Manhattan and Philadelphia, Brown has turned to SHoP Architects for his renovations and new projects, and has been unafraid to let them have their own ideas. Brown has pushed the envelope farther than did developer Robert Wennet, another Meatpacking District maven who was also active in neighborhood development in cities such as Miami and Washington, D.C. Developers like Time Equities have also long sought ways to use their project to enrich their neighborhoods, as well as themselves. Richard Meier’s fine Perry Street towers stand out in the way they draw on their neighborhood for context and then alter it with a single stroke. That effect is driven as much by siting as by design. Should developer Frank Sciame’s vision for Santiago Calatrava’s twisting residential palace ever be realized, it too will transform a historic district with a magnificent gesture. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
On the office-building or commercial front, there are a handful of projects in the works that are significantly different from the standard-issue skyscraper to indicate that their developers have a committed vision. The least obvious of these is 505 Fifth Avenue, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox for developer Axel Stawski’s Kipp-Stawski Group. It’s a relatively small, neat design that is not all that unconventional. But Stawski has gone the extra mile inside, commissioning reclusive light artist James Turrell to transform the building’s lobby into a light sculpture that is intended to go beyond decoration, setting it a world apart from the granite/ marble standard by requiring something in turn from visitors. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
Just a block west is the city’s second largest construction site, after Ground Zero (which is not something we can discuss here while considering good development). The big hole is for One Bryant Park, designed by Cook + Fox for the Durst Organization. In contrast to 505 Fifth, this is a huge building. It deploys crystalline forms in a tapered structure to minimize its undeniable bulk. But the developer’s announced intention to achieve LEED Platinum status is an important step for a commercial structure of this size, especially since about half of the space is being built on spec. The use of an efficient cogeneration energy system, recycled steel, sub-floor air circulation, and graywater recycling are all part of the package. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
Finally, there is the Hearst Building at 57th Street and Eighth Avenue, designed by Foster and Partners as a corporate and environmental showcase. Without flinching at the sharp contrast between historic and contemporary, the architects scooped out the guts of the old headquarters, built for Hearst by Joseph Urban and George B. Post & Sons in 1927, and inserted a new iconic structure in the base. Hearst is seeking LEED Gold certification. If one can accept (or even consider) the difficult premise that there is such a thing as good corporate citizenship, this building strives to express that. lining up powerful political supporters, sports celebrities, investors, and yes, a superstar architect. The MTA soft-peddled its RFP, which has given Ratner’s effort the appearance of a closed deal.
While developers and architects will always do battle over design’s place in the hierarchy of place-making—still a very linear concept in the minds of most development practitioners—continued pressure can help move that mark. And then there will always be some who understand that architecture is the fulcrum that can successfully balance neighborhoods and returns.
Peter Slatin is the founder of www.theslatinreport.com, and writes our regular real estate column, Curbside. He lives in what was an unglam Upper West Side developer monstrosity when it was built that is considered highly desirable real estate today.
Copyright © 2005 The Architect's Newspaper, LLC |
NEWSDAY
MTA to negotiate exclusively with Ratner
By JOSHUA ROBIN
July 27, 2005
The MTA voted this afternoon to negotiate exclusively with developers planning a basketball arena and high-density residential community on the authority's downtown Brooklyn rail yards, shutting out for now a rival bid that sought a more modest neighborhood on the site.
The 11-1 vote allows Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials to seek more money from developer Bruce Ratner for the Atlantic Avenue site, giving them 45 days to reach a new agreement.
If the deal isn't struck in that time, MTA officials could return to discussions with the rival developer, the Extell Development Co.
The vote today is a blow against some residents of the communities that surround the rail yards, who had sought to block Ratner's plan to bring a Nets basketball arena to the area.
The arena would be surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, which has 14 voting seats, received the Brooklyn bids July 6 but most board members were only briefed on the offers this week.
Ratner, which first proposed a housing, office and basketball arena plan in December 2003, has won the endorsement of several key public officials and low-income-housing advocacy groups.
But a vocal coalition of community groups has been opposing those plans, saying that traffic congestion, the extensive size of the projects and other issues don't make the plan workable in Brooklyn.
Extell planned a smaller-scale project with housing and retail.
In addition, the coalition, Develop - Don't Destroy Brooklyn, sent a letter to the MTA pointing out that Ratner plans to use the controversial eminent domain law to take over private property and that residents will file lawsuits.
"There's no way the MTA can deliberate and truly evaluate these bids by tomorrow," said Daniel Goldstein, a group spokesman.
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index...id=1&aid=52380
MTA Postpones Vote On Atlantic Rail Yards
July 27, 2005
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority was scheduled to decide today who will win the rights to develop the Atlantic Rail Yards in Brooklyn, but the agency's vote has been postponed.
At an MTA board meeting Wednesday in Manhattan, the agency decided to delay a vote on a winning bid for the right to develop over the rail yards by at least 45 days. The agency says it decided to postpone the vote because they're hoping developer Bruce Ratner will sweeten the deal.
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow says he was disappointed with Forest City Ratner's bid.
“I think that the bid that we did get from Forest City, while complete and well thought out, frankly was not as high as I expected,” said Kalikow. “I expected the MTA to receive more money.”
The Extell Corporation is competing with Forest City Ratner for the property. The company has submitted a smaller plan, but it does offer more money.
They are hoping their plan gets more consideration now that there is a delay.
“I think our bid speaks for itself,” said Extell’s Lela Goren. “There's $100 million more there for the MTA and for the riders of the MTA, and I think the MTA has a fiduciary duty to its agency and to its riders to pick the highest bid and also to pick the bid that's best for the community.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's four appointees to the MTA board are expected to support Ratner's bid, and three others are believed to be leaning his way.
Ratner's plan calls for a sprawling commercial and residential development anchored by a new basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets.
Meanwhile, thanks to a much larger than expected budget surplus, transit officials said Wednesday the MTA could develop the Hudson Rail Yards on Manhattan’s west side on its own.
The MTA says its budget is projected to have an $833 million surplus for this year. According to the agency, that surplus is due in part to tax revenue from the booming real estate market and lower than expected interest rates.
With this newfound funding, the MTA says it is looking into the possibility of building a platform over the west side site and later finding a developer through another bidding process.
It's not clear what all this means for the New York Jets and their stalled attempt to build a football stadium there.
The MTA says the surplus also means it won't have to cut some services on subway or bus lines, and it means more money is available for cleaning and security.
However, the agency still plans on raising fares in 2007, and is projecting an $800 million deficit in 2008.
Ratner prrobally has to raise his bid to atleast $150 cash as Extell is willing to go to $200 Million.
The 11-1 vote allows Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials to seek more money from developer Bruce Ratner for the Atlantic Avenue site, giving them 45 days to reach a new agreement.
If the deal isn't struck in that time, MTA officials could return to discussions with the rival developer, the Extell Development Co.
Obviously Ratner will have to increase his bid, but the extras that come with it and raise the bid was enough to allow for the extension. Otherwise, Extell would have been selected as the highest bidder.
We already knew the MTA would pick Ratner, this delay is bad news. The delay allows opponents to organize and take legal action.
New York Observer:
Dark-Horse Brooklyn Bidder
No Rookie in N.Y. Real Estate
By Matthew Schuerman and Michael Calderone
There was a time when politicians and civic groups would beat up on guys who wanted to build sports facilities in New York, supporting a rival’s plan for apartment houses—affordable ones! popular with voters!—even if the rival had no real-estate experience whatsoever (and a political ax to grind).
That was back in February.
Now a guy steps forth to defeat a stadium plan who is also an experienced real-estate man toting a portfolio of 26 buildings, and he still can’t get no respect.
This time around, the sports fan, Bruce Ratner, is offering the Metropolitan Transportation Authority $50 million for land on which to build a stadium and a cluster of retail and residential buildings. The rival bidder, Gary Barnett, wants to buy the same land for $150 million—and he’s not building a stadium.
Follow the money, right? But the choice, which the board of directors could make as early as this morning, is harder than it might seem.
No one really knows much about this season’s rival, Gary Barnett. He’s not part of the cozy New York City developers’ club, where you avoid overt fisticuffs by making back-room deals. Nor is he someone to fool around with.
About five years ago, Mr. Barnett entered a contract to develop a parking lot off of Times Square. When the land was about to be seized by the Empire State Development Corporation to make way for the new New York Times tower—which was to be created by none other than Bruce Ratner—Mr. Barnett ended up bankrolling the parking-lot owner’s lawsuit. He, and the parking lot owner, lost. Just wait till next year!
So is Mr. Barnett bidding on Vanderbilt Yard, the eight-acre M.T.A. parcel in Central Brooklyn, just because it’s payback time? Is he just another James Dolan, the Cablevision C.E.O. who bankrolled the opposition fight on the West Side stadium and who, when it looked like he was losing, decided to bid on the land himself and proposed a housing-and-office complex for the site? That’s the $100 million question.
Then again, who else but a lone wolf would dare upset the apple cart of prearranged subsidies and Mayoral endorsements to actually respond to the M.T.A.’s request for proposals? No one else bothered.
The Expert Upstart
Newspapers have taken to calling Mr. Barnett an upstart, or an unknown, but he’s actually been working in real estate for about 15 years, first as an investor and more recently as a developer. Previously known as Gershon Barnett—and, before that, as Gershon Swiatycki, according to court papers—Mr. Barnett bought and sold diamonds for several years before starting a property investment company. Extell, which was called Intell until a year ago, started out investing in the Midwest in the early 1990’s. (Mr. Barnett, through a spokesman, declined a request for an interview.)
He bought and sold the former Enron headquarters in Houston, started a hotel- condominium complex on Boston Harbor, and did a 1.5 million-square-foot renovation in downtown Chicago.
He owns 19 properties in New York, all of them conversions or renovations, aside from the W Times Square Hotel, which he built back when it was the Planet Hollywood Hotel. Mr. Barnett was half of the team, along with the Carlyle Group, that recently bought 77 acres of land and three buildings from Donald Trump and his partners. And it was his contractor, preparing the site for a 31-story tower, that was demolishing a supermarket on upper Broadway when it collapsed on July 14, just in time to give him bad P.R. for his fast moves in Brooklyn.
“The difference between him and other New York City developers is that his is a very quiet company,” said Nancy Ruddy, president of Cetra/Ruddy Architects, the firm designing the Vanderbilt Yard plan and several other Extell projects, including the 550-unit Orion on West 42nd Street and the co-op conversion of the Stanhope Hotel across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “He hasn’t wanted the publicity of certain developers who want to be in the papers. He prefers to operate quietly. He’s a very genteel, soft-spoken person.”
It’s pretty hard to operate quietly when you enlist the Carlyle Group to buy out Trump, isn’t it?
On the other hand, what developer would agree to personally appear before a community board and endure three hours of verbal abuse from that peculiar New York species known as the irate neighbor? And yet he did.
On June 15, Mr. Barnett strode into the Community Board 7 meeting in the basement of an Upper West Side synagogue. The gathering was standing-room-only, bringing out typically less-active members of the community who saw the flyers pasted up and down Broadway. Concerned residents wanted to find out what was happening in their backyard. Following a PowerPoint presentation, which included a quick peek at the renderings of two 30-plus-story condominiums, the dark-haired, bespectacled developer addressed the irate crowd wearing a fine dark suit, according to audience members.
This wasn’t Brooklyn, where well-heeled activists would welcome Extell’s proposed 28-story buildings. The residents living near 100th Street and Broadway can’t stand the idea of a couple of towers just a few stories higher. They’ve formed groups called Stop Extell and Westsiders for Responsible Development. Mr. Barnett’s critics often cited increased traffic, the height of the buildings and an influx of a wealthier demographic that may drive out local businesses as reasons to stop the proposal—all the things, by the way, that Mr. Barnett’s allies in Brooklyn complain about in Mr. Ratner’s plan.
“When they went through the presentation, people were stunned,” said Toni Cindrich, an Upper West Side resident who turned into an activist four days after the meeting. “When the architect’s renderings were projected on the screen, there was an audible gasp. People could not believe it.”
But Mr. Barnett and company left the synagogue unscathed, and—despite the Gristedes collapse one month later—he still plans to go forward with the luxury development. Unlike in Brooklyn, Mr. Barnett already owns that property on the Upper West Side, and he can build that high as of right.
The array of civic groups and government watchdogs that came out against the Jets stadium earlier this year have been a lot quieter about the arena in Brooklyn. In large part, that’s because Mr. Ratner is proposing the type of feel-good development that earned Cablevision such civic accolades. Affordable housing? Check. Mixed-use? Check. And all right near a busy transit hub that just got renovated and would have to be renovated yet again? Jackhammers are music to these people’s ears.
Forest City spent months negotiating agreements with local groups that promise jobs to minority-owned firms, as well as a training program and a housing scheme for low- and middle-income folks.
“Forest City has been very clever at gaining community support,” said Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, a transit advocacy group that opposed the West Side stadium. “With the Jets, there wasn’t even an attempt at outreach.”
Indeed, though Forest City Ratner gained Mayor Bloomberg’s support, Hizzoner hasn’t stumped for Mr. Ratner’s project nearly as much as he did for the Jets stadium. Mr. Ratner’s support is more grassroots. Instead of Mike, he got Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn’s teddy bear of a borough president, who can’t pass up a Junior’s cheesecake because eating one just might generate another job. Mr. Ratner also got 15 other elected officials, from Senator Chuck Schumer on down, to write letters of support that were included in the bid book submitted to the M.T.A.
Some of these supporters even wrote identical letters.
“Although the benefits to Brooklyn will be enormous, we shouldn’t lose sight of the tremendous state- and city-wide benefits this project will provide.” So saith Senator Schumer, Representative Edolphus Towns, Assemblymen Roger Green and Joseph Lentol, State Senator Carl Andrews, and City Council members Lewis Fidler and Bill deBlasio.
Where’s the Beef?
Forest City has claimed that its bid actually represents $329.4 million in revenue for the M.T.A. But that includes not just the $50 million in cash, but all the money that Forest City will spend on cleaning up the land, moving and covering the rail yards, and creating open space—and also an estimate of the portion of sales taxes from all the money spent at the shops at Atlantic Yards that will go to the transit agency.
Extell’s bid also represents much more than the $150 million in cash. Mr. Barnett pledges to maintain the new rail yards and abide by all other requirements set down by the M.T.A. He predicts that he can move and cover the rail yards for $150 million—which seems unrealistically low compared to Forest City’s plan, which sets aside $281 million for the effort. Then again, the M.T.A.’s own appraiser thinks it can be done for a mere $57 million. Mr. Ratner’s supporters point to Extell’s lack of specificity as a weakness—though Mr. Barnett had just six weeks, instead of a year and a half, to work up his bid and garner community support.
Mr. Barnett subscribes to the 33 principles of development adopted by a coalition of community groups headed by Develop—Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. These principles include certain items, like limiting the height of the buildings and forbidding the use of eminent domain, that Forest City Ratner expressly violates. Mr. Barnett also subscribes to certain elements, such as hiring minority- and women-owned firms and providing job training and affordable housing, which are considered the pluses of Forest City’s plan—although his offer is neither as specific nor as extensive as the agreements that Forest City put together over the past 18 months.
Mr. Barnett also tells the M.T.A. in his bid that he hasn’t had time to do an economic-impact analysis. No matter what the results of that analysis show, however, it’s hard to imagine that it would generate more tax revenues than the $2.1 billion that Mr. Ratner is claiming his project will earn over the next 30 years. Forest City’s plan is simply bigger than Extell’s, which means more jobs, more housing and more tax revenue.
To Mr. Ratner’s supporters in Brooklyn, Extell’s plan looks pretty wimpy.
“The reduced amount of opportunity is unacceptable,” said Marie Louis, vice president of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development, or BUILD, a group that came together a year and a half ago to support the Forest City project. “We can’t afford to trade 2,250 units of affordable housing for 573. We can’t afford to trade 15,000 jobs to less than a third of that from Extell. You can’t see that when you’re a member of a household with a $100,000 income.”
Bad news. This guy Barnett is as shifty as his name. That scheme of his is toilet paper. His building collapses up on Broadway. He's dismantling a nice old hotel on Fifth Avenue, where he's putting a sidewalk planter strip in place of a sidewalk cafe.
Shyster.
The following article contradicts the NY1 report.
July 28, 2005
M.T.A. to Deal Only With Ratner on Brooklyn Bid
By CHARLES V. BAGLI and SEWELL CHAN
Despite a higher cash offer from a rival bidder, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted yesterday to enter into exclusive negotiations to sell the developer Bruce C. Ratner the rights to build an arena for the Nets and office and residential buildings over a railyard in Downtown Brooklyn.
Over the next 45 days, the authority expects to bargain with the developer over one major issue: money. Mr. Ratner, who heads the development company Forest City Ratner, had offered $50 million in cash for the development rights, or one-third the amount offered by a rival, the Extell Development Company. But Mr. Ratner argued that his bid was actually worth $329 million because he would build a new, larger railyard, pay for any increased operating expenses that the authority would incur, make several transit improvements and generate millions in tax revenues from the arena.
But while M.T.A. officials seemed to like his plans, they still wanted more money.
"The bid that we did get from Forest City, while complete and well thought out, was not as high as I expected," Peter S. Kalikow, the chairman of the authority, told the board at its monthly meeting. People close to the board had said late Tuesday that it would not make a decision yesterday, and the vote to favor the Ratner bid came as a surprise.
It remains to be seen just how much higher Mr. Ratner's bid must go. An M.T.A. appraisal said the 8.3-acre parcel, at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, was worth $214.5 million. The land is potentially valuable because a new residential development could form a lively link between the communities that the railyard separates.
As part of a $3.5 billion project, Mr. Ratner, who bought the Nets basketball team and plans to move it to Brooklyn, has proposed building the arena, office space and 6,000 apartments on the railyard and on an adjacent 13 acres to the east. The developer said he would set aside 2,500 units for low- and middle-income residents and lined up support from the city and the state, which each agreed to provide $100 million in subsidies.
Forest City Ratner is the development partner for the new Midtown headquarters for The New York Times Company.
The only M.T.A. board member to dissent from yesterday's vote, Mitchell H. Pally, declared that both bids were insufficient and rejected the idea of entering exclusive negotiations with only one of the prospective buyers. As for Mr. Ratner, "We have no assurance that they'll come up with one more cent," said Mr. Pally, the board's Suffolk County representative, who suggested that the authority talk with both bidders simultaneously. "We will then be forced to decide in September what to do."
Mr. Kalikow, a former developer, countered that he had been in real estate for 38 years and had never negotiated two leases for a property at once. "It's immoral," he said.
Although Extell's bid was higher than Mr. Ratner's, M.T.A. officials said it was not very detailed. Gary Barnett, Extell's president, expressed disappointment with the M.T.A.'s decision.
"They apparently are giving him an opportunity to change his bid," Mr. Barnett said in a statement released yesterday, referring to Mr. Ratner. "We believe we should be extended the same opportunity. We are considering all of our options."
George Arzt, a spokesman for the company, ruled out suing.
But Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, which opposes the Ratner project as an oversize intrusion, said his group was considering a legal challenge. It is "unconscionable that the M.T.A. would enter exclusive negotiations with the lowball bidder," he said.
Extell proposed a more low-scale project that would not require condemnation of private property to build 1,940 apartments in buildings ranging from 4 to 28 stories, along tree-lined walkways atop a platform over the railyard. The Extell bid presumed that it could obtain up to $150 million in government subsidies.
At a public hearing before the board meeting, more than 50 speakers argued for or against Mr. Ratner's project. James E. Caldwell, a longtime resident, said Mr. Ratner was "an angel from heaven," bringing jobs, affordable housing and a professional team.
But State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, a Brooklyn Democrat, said the project "seeks to overbuild and destroy the communities around it."
At the opening of the new American Airlines terminal at Kennedy Airport yesterday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said he wanted to ensure that jobs were created at the railyard site and that the arena and moderate-income housing were built.
"There's a site where virtually almost every single elected official, including those in Albany, are in favor of it," he said. "These are jobs. This is the future of Brooklyn, the future for our city."
Kalikow talking about "immoral"? His management of the MTA has been immoral. Just recently he was crying about deficits and pushing for fare hikes. Now, he wants to use this "surprise" surplus to build a platform to support Johnson's stadium. This supports every criticism made in the past year about the MTA having no governmental oversight and having two sets of books. The guy needs to be given the pink slip.
Last edited by BrooklynRider; July 28th, 2005 at 10:30 AM.
Not what was reported.
From this post,...
Buoyed by an unexpected surge in tax revenue, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced yesterday that it would have a surplus of $833 million this year and that it would consider using the money to create a giant platform over its West Side railyards, which it could then sell to developers for office and apartment towers.
Id assume that is Ratner give $150 Million cash, the same as Extell, who cant change there bid durning this period of time, the project will go forward.
As for the MTA platform to possible be built on Hudson Yards, im with Brooklyn, Kalikow is a joke and on top of this he wants whatever developer gets the site to build him a new office tower, after the 2 Broadway mess, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
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