New partner in Atlantic Yards development

October 14, 2013 Heather Chin
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The Shanghai, China-based Greenland Group Co. plans to buy a 70 percent stake in the Atlantic Yards project and become co-developer, according to an announcement made by previous lead developer Forest City Ratner Companies.

Forest City Ratner will now co-develop the 22-acre residential and commercial real estate project, which has been controversial since the planning process began nearly a decade ago, leading to the takeover of homes through eminent domain and the construction of Barclays Center sports arena in the residential and low-rise commercial neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Clinton Hill.

Greenland Group’s purchase would not include the first residential tower, B2, for which construction has already begun. It does cover Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the residential and office tower construction projects—“including infrastructure, a platform, and residential units.”

Although the joint venture has been agreed upon by the two parties, the deal will not close until the U.S. and China review the details and give the go-ahead.

That hasn’t prevented Forest City Ratner Executive Chairman Bruce Ratner from heralding the collaboration as “a strong development and investment partnership” that will “allow us to deliver the 6,400 units of housing, including 2,250 units of affordable housing, to market more expeditiously.”

Greenland Group President Zhang Yuliang is equally enthusiastic, explaining his company’s interest in the project as being due to Brooklyn’s transformation into “an international brand [that] symbolizes how the old and the new can exist together, creating a dynamic environment for people to live and work.”

“Atlantic Yards is about more than Brooklyn and New York, as important as this development is for [New York City],” said Yuliang. “It is about how we build sustainable, well-designed housing to meet the needs of diverse groups of people. If we can do that in New York, we can do that elsewhere.”

If the joint venture is approved, this would be Greenland Group’s second project in the U.S., following their purchase of a site in downtown Los Angeles with plans for a hotel and housing.

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