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November 17, 2009
Is the state playing lowball with Daniel Goldstein?
The Brooklyn Paper
By Stephen Brown
Bruce Ratner needs Daniel Goldstein's condo in order to demolish the building that stands in the way of a new arena for the NJ Nets:
State officials have finally put a price on Daniel Goldstein’s opposition to the Atlantic Yards project — it’s going to cost the activist $80,000.
Goldstein, the lone holdout in a Pacific Street condo building that is slated to be condemned to make way for Bruce Ratner’s basketball arena, has been offered just $510,000 for the three-bedroom unit that cost him $590,000 in 2003.
Goldstein, who runs the project’s principle opposition group, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, was miffed (to say the least) at the offer.
Goldstein's lawyer suggests the possibility that the State is "being vindictive," while another lawyer, who is not involved in the case, concludes, "They’re being very punitive."
In another irony, the state condemnation process also provides a “relocation firm” to help Goldstein find a new place. But the firm’s suggested apartment only rubbed salt in the opponents’ wound: For $510,000, all he could get was a two-bedroom apartment near Crown Heights that is two-thirds smaller than his current digs.
NoLandGrab: Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report noted that the State's lowball figure of $395/sf stands in stark contrast to Ratner and the State's projection that condos at Atlantic Yards would fetch $1217/sf in 2015. [link]
Photo by Tracy Collins, via flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
Also...
Brownstoner, Goldstein Offered Less Than What He Paid for Condo
Posted by lumi at November 17, 2009 6:10 AM