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March 24, 2008
Voices: Brace for a new glut of office space
MetroNY
By Neil DeMause
Well, that was quick. In the one week since Bear Stearns suffered its total existence failure, stories of developers bailing on office-tower projects came fast and furious: First J.P. Morgan Chase rethinking its building on the former Deutsche Bank building site, then Bruce Ratner admitting his Frank Gehry-designed “Miss Brooklyn” skyscraper would be delayed indefinitely (though he insists he’s going ahead with the accompanying Nets basketball arena). Meanwhile, two major Manhattan developers had their stocks downgraded amid fears of a coming office glut.
It’s certainly a far cry from four years ago, when then-deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff announced plans for a staggering 28 million square feet of new office buildings — that’s seven World Trade Center towers — as part of a “Hudson Yards” development centered on a West Side stadium for the Jets and the Olympics. Today, it’s clear there will be no Midtown West — at most maybe it’ll be Chelsea North, if the housing market doesn’t collapse next.
Why should you care, unless you’re a developer?
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These sorts of deals are sold as “public-private partnerships” — taxpayers prime the pump for developers. The problem is they shift the risk to taxpayers, who when the economy goes south are left holding the bag.
Posted by lumi at March 24, 2008 4:26 AM