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October 13, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere... (new MTA lawsuit edition)
Field of Schemes, New lawsuit targets Ratner's Atlantic Yards land buy
With just one day to go before New York state's top court holds its hearing on the final eminent domain case against Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, another court challenge has emerged: Four local elected officials, the New York Public Interest Research Group, and the ubiquitous Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn are suing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over its agreement this summer to sell land to Ratner for a cut-rate price. (An even more cut-rate price than the MTA originally agreed to, that is.)
...The real question now is whether another lawsuit will make it too expensive for Ratner to get bond insurance so he can start selling arena bonds this month as planned.
More on this as it develops. In the meantime, the lesson here may be: If you're going to try a legally questionable move to gain public (and private) land for your arena project, you might not want to choose a site right in the middle of one of the city's highest concentrations of lawyers.
NetsAreScorching, DDDB SUES MTA FOR SWEETHEART DEAL WITH FOREST CITY RATNER
For those hoping that the only court we would be talking about after tomorrow was the basketball court, I am sorry, but that isn’t going to happen. Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn sent out a press release this morning stating that they, along with a few elected officials and the Straphangers Campaign have sued the MTA.
...This suit is yet another case that the Nets are going to have to deal with and resolve before they can put the shovel in the ground. This might not be the last one either as Mark has alluded to, there’s buzz that they want to sue the Empire State Development Corp. as well. This now turns into a clock management issue (mandatory sports term!) for the Nets and their lawyers as they continue to navigate the legal obstacles that DDDB put out.
NetsDaily, New Suit Alleges “Sweetheart” Deal on Railyard
Critics of the Nets’ new arena, along with four city and state officials, have filed suit against the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, claiming it illegally renegotiated and approved an agreement on the railyards beneath the project. Bruce Ratner had agreed to buy the yards for $100 million and upgrade it as part of Atlantic Yards, then asked that the price be stretched out 22 years and the new yard shortened.
AP via SILive, NYC groups sue MTA to block deal for Nets arena
The MTA and Forest City Ratner said they had no immediate comment.
The lawsuit is the latest of several legal challenges to the 22-acre Atlantic Yards project. The project is to include office towers and apartments as well as a basketball arena.
2nd Ave. Sagas, MTA sued over Ratner sweetheart deal
As I summarized in June, this new deal for Ratner is blatantly outrageous. I wrote four months ago:
So what did the MTA do? Well, instead of opening up the process to a new round of bidders and requests for proposals, the agency has simply sweetened the deal for Ratner. Instead of a lump sum payment of $100 million, he will pay just $20 million upfront and cover his purchase in installments totaling $80 million over the next 22 years. He will pay $2 million a year from 2012-2016 and then $11 million a year for the following 15 years. Instead of a $225 million rail facility, he will supply one with three-quarters of the original plan capacity for $150 million instead.
At the time, MTA Board members protested the deal, and now the politicians are angry. This could be a long fight for the MTA, and an injunction against the sale could impact Ratner’s ability to secure financing. He has until the end of the year to secure $700 million in tax-free bonds for the Barclays Arena.
Posted by eric at October 13, 2009 3:10 PM