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January 29, 2006
Ratners try, try, try try again for casino
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Forest City Ratner, a division of Forest City Enterprises, swept into the Big Apple two decades ago, gobbling up real estate in Brooklyn, Times Square and elsewhere. Fast forward to 2004. Bruce Ratner, Forest City Ratner's owner and a cousin of Forest City's Cleveland boss, Albert Ratner, had orchestrated a $300 million buy-in of the New Jersey Nets.The purchase was complemented by a series of ambitious promises. They'd build an 18,000-seat arena, moving the Nets from their New Jersey digs to Brooklyn. They'd remake the part of Brooklyn known as Atlantic Yards, on and around a railroad junction. They'd tear down some old buildings, and replace them with more than a dozen new ones, office towers and up to 5,000 residential units. They'd create 10,000 jobs. They'd invest $3.5 billion.
None of that has happened, because, in large part, of community opposition. Among the concerns is the hundreds of millions in public subsidies which would be required.
Posted by amy at January 29, 2006 2:31 PM