« Affirming Atlantic Yards | Main | Woodbridge eyes financially troubled Colonia Country Club »
November 29, 2009
Atlantic Yards Report Sunday B.S. Detector
In error-filled editorial, Crain's says elected officials should reassure arena bond investors
It could be said that Norman Oder is being gentle in calling today's collection of fibs in Crain's "error-filled."
This blog entry addresses Crain's whoppers regarding public good, public opinion and finances for the proposed arena and questions the editorial's conclusions:
The editorial concludes:
That's where political leaders should come in. It is up to the mayor, the governor, the borough president and other elected officials in Brooklyn to reconfirm their support and their commitment to making this project happen in order to reassure those investors.
What does that mean? No local elected officials had a voice in deciding the project. Now Crain's says they should affirm their support to help investors and, not coincidentally, a project that would benefit Russia's richest man.
Why, for example, should local officials commit to assigning tax-exempt housing bonds for Atlantic Yards without comparing the cost per unit to other affordable housing projects?
And doesn't Crain's, the voice of the business community, have the slightest qualms about endorsing arena bonds that might--despite state assurances to the contrary--leave the state on the hook?
Lawyer for developers: expect a crisis every eight to ten years
From the Spring 2009 issue of Development magazine, the quarterly publication of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association:
[John W. Waldeck, partner and chair of the Real Estate Group at the Cleveland-based law firm Walter & Haverfield] observed that the commercial real estate industry is in the midst of its third major crisis in 30 years (the first two being the period from ’77 to ’80 and again in the early ‘90s). “If you’re an entrepreneur, is this what you have to anticipate? That once every eight to 10 years the industry will go through the ringer?” The answer clearly being yes, he advised owners and developers to “build up a substantial war chest.”
In other words, even industry peers might say that Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner and the Empire State Development Corporation aren't realistic in anticipating a ten-year buildout for the project. I've suggested several reasons for skepticism.
Posted by steve at November 29, 2009 11:31 AM