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March 5, 2009
Barclays Wants Gehry; Won't Pay $400 Million for Atlantic Center Mall Part 2
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
With the news that the Nets will play 2 of their 3 Fall 2009 preseason games at the Newark Prudential Center Arena comes a strange column in the The Times today where the idea of a Nets move to Newark is described as "so easy" or "the odds of which seem slim to none." Newark Mayor Cory Booker is sure excited about the possibility, but those who speak for team owner Bruce Ratner say "no way."
Nonetheless, the Atlantic Yards quote of the year-to-date comes from myth-making marketing guru, Nets Chief Executive Brett Yormark in the article:
"Corporate America believes in the project, the Barclays Center specifically," Yormark said, referring to the proposed Brooklyn arena. "They know we're going to get there, and they want to be a part of it."
The "there" they want to get to is not going to be "there."
What "Corporate America" and Barclays want to "be a part of" is a world class, state-of-the-art, landmark Frank Gehry destination arena. That's what Barclays agreed to pay $400 million for and what other arena sponsors are attracted to. They didn't get into this $400 million mess to slap their logo on Plain Vanilla Center or Atlantic Center Mall Part 2 or Concrete Box Pavilion. "Corporate America" and Barclays will bail on Ratner and Yormark faster than a Magic Johnson led fast break the day Forest City Ratner makes it official that Frank Gehry will not be designing the arena. It seems that Mr. Gehry has already faced up to it. So, making it official is just a matter of time; it's already the case, but Yormark hasn't made it clear to "Corporate America" yet. (And if he hadn't noticed, "Corporate America" has bigger problems of late than deciding which white elephant to sink its non-existent extra cash into.)
Perhaps this is why the Nets are testing the Newark waters.
Posted by eric at March 5, 2009 10:46 AM