On the 20th anniversary of the chronically delayed Atlantic Yards project, developers’ default puts project in jeopardy

Advocates & Elected Officials Call for Accountability & Change in Oversight

December 12, 2023 Special report from BrooklynSpeaks

Here’s a glimpse of the Pacific Park development, originally called Atlantic Yards, in 2019.
Photo by Lore Croghan

Share this:

ATLANTIC YARDS — Advocates in the BrooklynSpeaks coalition held a press briefing to mark the 20th anniversary of the Atlantic Yards project and call for change in New York State’s oversight process, including increased accountability for unmet promises by developers and the State. The Atlantic Yards project was announced in 2003 with the stated goal of removing blight caused by the open rail yards. The controversial blight finding was critical to the project being approved under the State’s Urban Development Corporation Act, overriding New York City zoning, bypassing local review, and assembling land through eminent domain. Twenty years later, the rail yard has not been covered, and 877 affordable housing units, along with promised public open space, remain unbuilt.

In addition to the now two decades of delays, the project hit a potentially fatal roadblock last month when the current developer Greenland USA — a subsidiary of China’s Greenland Holdings — defaulted on EB-5 debt borrowed to finance the project. Greenland USA will likely lose control of six development sites over the MTA rail yards between Sixth Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn, which are going to be auctioned on January 11, 2024 as a result of the default.

“From agreeing to a no-bid contract at Atlantic Yards, to failing to confirm the economic feasibility of residential development over the rail yards, to allowing a developer to pledge those development rights to secure a loan without knowing their value, Empire State Development set the stage for the current plan’s failure,” said Gib Veconi, Chair of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council. “The State of New York took a massive gamble on Atlantic Yards, and Brooklyn lost.”

Gib Veconi At Atlantic Yards virtual press conference. — Gib Veconi: Screenshot from press virtual press conference.

Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon said, “Twenty years ago, the public was promised a ‘Garden of Eden’ above ‘blighted’ rail yards. ESD green-lit the risky project, took private property through eminent domain and now – during an historic housing crisis – the public is left without promised affordable housing and nothing above the rail yards. In the wake of the developer’s default, I have no confidence that damages owed for missed deadlines will ever be paid. By not holding developers accountable from the onset, ESD encouraged them to take large risks. This default is a direct result of ESD’s bungled stewardship.”

Jo Anne Simon at Atlantic Yards virtual press conference — Jo Anne Simon: Screenshot from press virtual press conference.

“Now that control of the site has been broken up in the wake of Greenland’s default, Atlantic Yards’ original plan no longer works,” said Assembly Member Robert Carroll. “We need a new plan with true accountability and transparency that provides the deeply affordable housing and open space so desperately needed.”

Robert Carroll at Atlantic Yards virtual press conference. — Robert Carroll: Screenshot from press virtual press conference.

Greenland has struggled on other projects, taking a $200 million loss when it sold its 59-story Thea at Metropolis apartment building in Downtown Los Angeles. BrooklynSpeaks does not want to see the Atlantic Yards project fail, and is calling for accountability to ensure Brooklyn is able to reap real benefits — truly affordable housing and thoughtfully designed open space — of this initiative.

“The public deserves a full accounting of how things have gone so wrong at Atlantic Yards,” added Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee. “We call upon all levels of government to investigate the failure of ESD’s 20-year stewardship of the Atlantic Yards project all while bypassing or leveraging federal, state and city laws, programs and benefits and take such action as may be necessary to regain control of the site and its development rights, restart development under a new plan that has truly affordable housing, better manages risk, and ensures transparent accountability to the people of Brooklyn and New York State.”

Michelle de la Uz at Atlantic Yards virtual press conference. — Michelle de la Uz: Screenshot from press virtual press conference.

A full recording of the briefing can be found below:

About BrooklynSpeaks: The BrooklynSpeaks coalition was formed in 2006 to advocate for accountability at the Atlantic Yards project. BrooklynSpeaks successfully challenged a 2009 renegotiation of the project agreements between Empire State Development and developer Forest City Ratner, with a State Supreme Court finding that ESD’s extending the completion deadline of the project from ten years to twenty-five years violated New York State environmental law. In 2014, coalition members settled a threatened Fair Housing suit for an acceleration of the deadline for Atlantic Yards’ affordable housing from 2035 to 2025.

The BrooklynSpeaks sponsors are: