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June 20, 2009
What could $20 million buy? A 50-foot-wide site in Chelsea
Atlantic Yards Report
The MTA is seriously considering an offer of only $20 million from Bruce Ratner for the portion of the Vanderbilt rail yards he wants for building a new arena for the Nets. Norman Oder continues his series that essentially asks: "What would $20 million normally get you in the New York City real estate market?" Today's example: a 50-foot wide lot in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.
The segment of the Vanderbilt Yard at issue is 495' x 200', or 99,000 square feet, more than six times larger than the Chelsea site, even though the price would be about the same.
The Chelsea site only supports 51,557 buildable square feet. The Atlantic Yards arena block, of which this segment (Block 1119, Lot 7) would be at least a third, would support an 800,000 square foot arena and at least 1.5 million sf in development rights, according to the City Funding Agreement. (The towers on the area block, as approved, were supposed to contain 2.69 million square feet.)
Posted by steve at June 20, 2009 10:14 AM