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Ratner's bailout and the Barclays Bank subway station
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The Future look of the subway
For the last few years the MTA has cried poor mouth and insisted that a fare hike was needed to help their budget deficit. Yet, last Wednesday they voted to redo the Atlantic Yards deal by allowing Ratner to cough up only $20 million of the $100 million lump sum that was agreed to in 2006 for development rights to the site. The balance owed will be paid over the next 22 years.
They also relieved him of his $200 million obligation to make infrastructure improvements to the Vanderbilt rail yards in Prospect Heights.
The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) also amended their agreement with Ratner to give him more time to finish the project and loopholes to not finish the project at all.
One of the main selling points in giving Ratner the deal was that he would create “affordable housing.” Under the new agreement, that housing now takes a back seat.
The Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) blog had this to say about the ESDC:
“The ESDC engaged itself in a charade today that the project it approved in 2006 would still be built. It won’t be. What is planned now, in the middle of a housing crisis, is an $800 million arena that will be a money loser for New York City and sit empty most of the time, one skyscraper and a handful of ‘affordable’ housing units, while the rest of the site stagnates under Ratner’s land speculation,”
In addition to the sweetheart deal, Ratner and Barclays Bank signed a deal to give naming rights to Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street subway stations as well as the new Nets arena. The name changes will be reflected on subway maps when the arena is scheduled to be completed. Ratner will pay $200,000 a year for the rights. Barclays paid Ratner $4 million in 2007.
In a last minute bid for the project back in 2005, real estate developer Extell made a bid. They are a controversial group who have been accused of harassing tenants in rent-subsidized buildings in NYC.
Despite their not-so stellar reputation, Councilwoman Letitia James, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Congressman Major Owens endorsed the Extell bid at the time.
Extell's bid was similar to Ratner's although it offered less housing, but they agreed to not use eminent domain in acquiring private property to build the extra housing. Ratner's proposal was to acquire the extra property for housing under eminent domain.
The bid also contained many of the same community oriented proposals as Ratner and they signed on to the “Principles for Responsible Community Development” endorsed by almost two dozen Brooklyn community groups. Extell also agreed to abide by the City Land Use Review Process (ULURP) which would have more community oversight than Ratner's plan.
The most glaring omission in the Extell plan was the lack of a sports arena. DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein said at the time that while bringing major league sports back to Brooklyn is a great idea, “...when Bruce Ratner says that his destructive, taxpayer-subsidized sweetheart deal is the only way to do it, that’s a con job. There are viable options for an arena in Brooklyn, and maybe now that debate can occur.” It didn't
By all appearances the MTA didn't even seriously entertain Extell's offer and went ahead with Ratner.
Ratner's deal was probably a helped by the fact he had the backing of Mayor Bloomberg and former Governor Pataki, who sits on the MTA board.
For more info: The Amended Atlantic Yards Redevelopment Plan
