« Two more (Atlantic Yards-supporting) Carpenters Union officials step down, as they avoid signing declarations regarding organized crime | Main | In St. Louis, a protest sign meets government arrogance »
April 2, 2011
News from Forest City conference call: AY office space forgotten; project will get built at company's pace; no mention of EB-5 or modular construction
Atlantic Yards Report
During a conference call with investment analysts yesterday held by Forest City Enterprises, there were no questions about Atlantic Yards, so apparently issues of modular construction or EB-5 fundraising have not reached the radar screens of those analysts.
But there were some clues in both remarks by FCE officials and documents released by the company.
For one thing, the Atlantic Yards office tower--a key component of expected tax revenues--seems to be off the table, suggesting it's not expected in the near term. Another involves the repeated claim that Atlantic Yards will develop at Forest City's pace.
Where's the office space?
An end-of-year Supplemental Package to the Securities and Exchange Commission, described Atlantic Yards as the first among "Projects Under Development""
Below is a summary of our active large scale development projects, which have yet to commence construction, often referred to as our "shadow pipeline" which are crucial to our long-term growth. While we cannot make any assurances on the timing or delivery of these projects, our track record speaks to our ability to bring large, complex, projects to fruition when there is demand and available construction financing.
1) Atlantic Yards - Brooklyn, NY Atlantic Yards is adjacent to the state-of-the art arena, the Barclays Center, which is designed by the award-winning firms Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects and is currently under construction. In addition, Atlantic Yards will feature more than 6,400 units of housing, including over 2,200 affordable units, approximately 250,000 square feet of retail space, and more than 8 acres of landscaped open space.
Missing was any mention of the office tower.
At Forest City's pace
In remarks recalling the November 2008 presentation in which Forest City included Atlantic Yards among projects where "we control the pace," CEO Chuck Ratner indicated that the developer still feels the same way.
Posted by steve at April 2, 2011 11:12 PM