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January 28, 2008
COURT TROUBLE
RATNER ADMITS ARENA-FUNDING WOES
The New York Post
by Rich Calder
Could the global credit crisis and sub-prime mortgage woes be the straws that broke Atlantic Yards' back?
Don't fork over money to reserve seats for the Brooklyn Nets just yet.
Developer Bruce Ratner is running into trouble securing funding for his controversial $4 billion Atlantic Yards project, which would bring an NBA arena for Ratner's Nets and 16 skyscrapers with residential and commercial space to Prospect Heights, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
The papers, filed Friday by Ratner's firm in an attempt to speed up the appeal process in a lawsuit by project opponents, reveal for a first time that the biggest development in Brooklyn's history is in jeopardy because of dragging litigation and a slumping fiscal market.
"The credit markets are in turmoil at this time . . . There is a serious question as to whether, given the current state of the debt market, the underwriters will be able to proceed with the financing for the arena while the appeal is pending," one affidavit says.
Read the affidavit from FCRC EVP and Director of Finance Andrew Silberfein [link opens a PDF].
NoLandGrab: The worse the economy gets, and the longer the court cases drag out, the more tenuous the Atlantic Yards project becomes. And with the city and state cutting hundreds of millions from education budgets and other programs that matter to voters, at what point do politicians start looking to cut non-essentials — like huge public handouts for Bruce?
Posted by eric at January 28, 2008 8:47 AM