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April 7, 2007
Penguins to weigh Hill arena agenda
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Rich Lord
The Post-Gazette just might need to do a little more research on Community Benefits Agreements (CBA). In a story about the desire in the Hills District of Pittsburgh to create a CBA tied to a new arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Atlantic Yards CBA is held up as an example of a good negotiation between developer and community.
In the New York borough of Brooklyn, a coalition of eight groups pounded out a deal with subsidiaries of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises in return for their support for an arena and high-rise development called Atlantic Yards. That will be the new home of the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets.
Not mentioned is that most of the so-called community groups, most notably the astroturf group Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD), didn't even exist before the the CBA negotiations began.
The story moves a tad closer to reality in describing how the Atlantic Yards CBA would be enforced.
Enforcement of the agreement has proved contentious, and this year the developer is to pay a "watchdog" assigned to ensure that the benefits are provided.
Enforceablity of the Atlantic Yards CBA is unclear. It appears that, in the event of any disputes with CBA signatory Brooklyn United For Innovative Development (BUILD) , FCR might have to pay a $500,000 fine. All other CBA signatories would have to take Forest City to court to require the performance of the CBA commitments.
The terms proposed so far in Pittsburgh would result in an agreement with much greater benefits than the Atlantic Yards CBA:
The terms include a $10 million up-front payment from "various sources," possibly including public sources or arena and development revenue. They also call for a percentage of arena revenue, plus annual payments for 30 years, to go to an unspecified "development interest."
Let's hope that Pittsburgh gets a real CBA, not the phony one staged for the Atlantic Yards development.
Posted by steve at April 7, 2007 8:09 AM