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December 20, 2006
State Board Approves Atlantic Yards Project
The NY Times
By Nicholas Confessore
Approval of the [Atlantic Yards] project, which is to be built by the Forest City Ratner Companies, also ended an ever-lengthening dry spell for ambitious developers in New York City, where in recent years other major projects — including the West Side Stadium and the Moynihan Station — have been killed or delayed by community opposition and political rivalry. The Brooklyn project still faces two lawsuits, with more on the way, but Forest City executives are confident that they will prevail in court.
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Earlier this month, Mr. Silver delayed the Moynihan Station project, citing concerns over its financing, and in recent days he had made clear that he had similar concerns about Atlantic Yards, saying that Mr. Gargano’s aides had not yet provided him enough information to make up his mind. But on Tuesday, the development corporation allowed Mr. Silver to examine a closely held audit of the Atlantic Yards by the consulting firm KPMG, and today Mr. Silver indicated that he was satisfied that the project would be viable.According to the audit, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times, Forest City estimates that the overall rate of return on $4 billion project, excluding the arena, at about 10 percent over 30 years.
The Forest City has never publicly said precisely how much it expected to earn from the project, and questions remained today regarding a recent decrease of about half a billion dollar in projections for the amount of tax revenue that Atlantic Yards is expected to generate for the city and state.
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As today’s vote approached, the developer offered still more concessions to sweeten the deal. The project will include 200 subsidized condominium apartments for first-time homeowners, and Forest City will also build hundreds more such units near the project site. To make up for the project’s relatively small allotment of park space, the company will spend money to improve existing parks nearby. And the complex’s tallest tower — the high-concept, 58-story building dubbed “Miss Brooklyn” by Mr. Gehry — may be reduced in height.“They changes are positive, but they’re small,” said James F. Brennan, a Brooklyn assemblyman who with several colleagues had pushed for a much greater reduction in the project’s size.
Posted by lumi at December 20, 2006 10:40 PM