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October 6, 2007
Land is the new currency in sports
Sacramento Bee
Terri Hardy and Mary Lynne Vellinga see that the easiest way to explain tricky financing for arenas is to start with poster boy Bruce Ratner:
The mother of all the new sports/development plans, however, is the proposal for a fleet of 16 high-rises surrounding a new Brooklyn arena for the New Jersey Nets. Designed by star architect Frank Gehry, the towers would contain 6,400 apartments and condominiums.While such development plans hold appeal because they don't raise taxes, they still can stir controversy. They often involve less obvious public subsidies -- such as the donation of land or money for streets and utilities -- that can total many millions of dollars.
The city and state of New York are collectively spending $300 million for infrastructure serving the Brooklyn project by Forest City Ratner, a development firm headed by Nets owner Bruce Ratner. Opponents assert that the true subsidies for the development, including tax breaks for the housing, top $1 billion.
Posted by amy at October 6, 2007 10:48 AM