« Forest City Ratner News Release: "The Arena Can Wait. Affordable Housing Now!" | Main | Press Release: Prokhorov's Nets to Utilize Obscure BS-5 Green Card Program to Lure New Talent »
April 1, 2011
Highway Removery: Bloomberg Says “My Way Is the Highway,”- Private-Public Partnership Finally Bridging a Gulf
Noticing New York
News about the decades-old effort to remake the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway ties, naturally, to Atlantic Yards.
The Bloomberg administration just announced intentions to accelerate materialization of an intriguing part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030, (which plan was announced during his second term) in order to bring about, before the completion of Bloomberg’s third term, the platforming and building over the Brooklyn Queens Expressway that separates Brooklyn’s Red Hook and Carroll Gardens. Nine new blocks of residential housing will be created. Perhaps even bigger news is that the Bloomberg administration has, with some hoopla, unveiled its intentions to implement the construction via an ambitious new form of private-public partnership, supported by charitable dollars, that it says will create a windfall for the public.
...Jumping with sharp-eyed alacrity into the unfolding events, State Senator Daniel Squadron has co-authored a proposal with Assemblywoman Joan Millman: They are urging that the envisioned windfall increase in values be captured with tax increment-financing to divert the resulting increased property taxes to pay expenses for the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Noting that the building over the BQE will be taking place just blocks away from the park, Squadron observed that the new structures being erected will greatly expand the population accessing and benefitting from the park every day. Squadron pointed out that, in all probability, the reason the Bloomberg administration now found it attractive to accelerate this proposed development was because of the world-class contributions the park would be making to neighborhood aesthetics and amenities.
For many, the platforming over the BQE is considered long overdue. Although it was included as an element of the mayor’s 2030 plan, the idea had been urged long before that, including some serious discussion in 1980. Above is an image from architect Susannah Drake from her DLANDSTUDIO, whose proposals preceded the mayor’s adoption of them into his plan (the above envisioning is only a park- no buildings).
...Bloomberg L.P. was not always the first choice to be the private developer side of the private-public partnership. The city originally leaned toward selection of Forest City Ratner. Seth Pinsky, President of the mayor’s New York City Economic Development Corporation said that a lot of people viewed the Ratner organization merely as a professional subsidy collection organization. “That underestimates Ratner,” said Mr. Pinsky, “by the time Ratner has completed the Atlantic Yards project it will have learned a lot about platform construction. The superior expertise garnered at taxpayer expense should not be discounted or wasted.” Nevertheless, Mr. Pinsky said the city had problems with the Ratner organization leading to the decision to switch to the expertise available if things are managed under Doctoroff and his people.
“First,” said Pinsky, “there are the Ridge Hill and Kruger indictment tapes concerning Forest City Ratner’s participation in bribing government officials. We are not sure all the tapes made have surfaced yet.” Secondly, said Pinsky, there is a question of good government: “When you are NOT taking bids it looks bad to keep handing out swaths of the city to the same real estate development firms. It looks like the mayor is playing favorites. It is better to take turns and hand out deals on a rotating basis.”
...Bloomberg expects to reduce the overall cost of the project (and boost returns to investors on the equity side of the transaction) by directing into it charity funds that are under his control. To that end, funds Bloomberg collected through the Mayor's Fund to Advance the City for the victims of the recent Japanese disasters may be temporarily rerouted or “reutilized.” “In the end the Japanese will get these monies with interest,” said Bloomberg, “we will be setting the whole thing up with long-term zero-coupon capital appreciation bonds....
"At least, whatever we do, we’re paying an internal rate of interest at a LIBOR rate set by Barclays.”
Posted by eric at April 1, 2011 11:55 AM