Forest City Ratner Companies

The developers of Brooklyn’s $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards project, Forest City Ratner, tried to assuage fears about the stalled development in a conference call with investors today, saying they are committed to the success of the project in the long term. The call was held by Forest City Enterprises, the parent company of Forest City Ratner.  read more »

Property owners and tenants filed an appeal late yesterday in U.S. Supreme Court for their case contesting the use of eminent domain in the $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards project, an action that legal experts have said is likely to be the final chapter for the federal lawsuit, first filed in late 2006.

Even a favorable Supreme Court ruling for the plaintiffs (which would require a decision by the Court to hear the case in the first place) would not necessarily stop the use of eminent domain—it would only allow for the case to reach the trial phase.

If the lawsuit is dismissed, Matthew Brinckerhoff, attorney for the owners and tenants, said that there would still be an option to file an eminent domain case in New York State court.  read more »

Hale and Hearty Soup chain founders Andrew and Jonathan Schnipper have leased the last empty retail space in The New York Times Building.

The brothers will be opening a new restaurant concept described as "an updated version of a classic roadside eatery serving burgers, salads and other American favorites in a fast casual, relaxed setting," in 3,200 square feet at the corner of corner of Eighth Avenue and 41st Street, according to developer Forest City Ratner Companies.  read more »

In December 2005, right as the debate over the Atlantic Yards complex was heating up and before the  read more »

The New York Times is giving up five floors in its new Eighth Avenue building before it even moves in.

The Renzo Piano-designed headquarters, expected to open later this year, will be co-owned by the newspaper company and the developer Forest City Ratner. On Tuesday, they announced that floors 23 through 27, which were in the half owned by The Times, and floors 29 and 30, owned by the real-estate company, had been leased to law firm Goodwin Procter.

The move had long been rumored.

- Matthew Schuerman

High Line Sweeps West Chelsea Clean "The mission of the High Line, the future park that will rest on an elevated train platform slicing across 22 Manhattan blocks, is to slow down. The park's designers want the experience of it to be meditative, a break from hustled urban life. But just beyond its limits--which stretch only as wide as the skinny platform at 30 to 60 feet--there is a frenzied contrast." Go to story by John Koblin. Reclusive Ratner Gives to Mayor's Pet Causes "In December 2005, right as the debate over the Atlantic Yards complex was heating up and before the city made several crucial decisions about the project, Forest City Ratner gave between $450,000 and $1 million to a nonprofit closely associated with Mayor Michael Bloomberg." Go to story by Matthew Schuerman. Jerry Speyer's Lipstick Collar "The Philip Johnson trophy, the Lipstick Building at 885 Third Avenue, is officially up for sale. Tishman Speyer, and its investment partner, Prudential Real Estate Investors, is looking to sell the entire building, said Bill Shanahan, the investment sales broker at CB Richard Ellis." British firm stakes a $225 M. claim in East Harlem "A British real-estate firm will make its debut in the city with a massive $225 million portfolio buy of 47 buildings in East Harlem and seven condo units in the East Village." Go to Commercial Breaks by John Koblin. Of Mice and Mangia in Midtown "A mustachioed man in a tan trench coat milled anxiously outside the newly reopened Cafe Fonduta during his lunch break on Monday, admittedly wondering whether it was actually safe to go inside." Go to Counter Espionage by Chris Shott. 'Perfectionist' Party Planner Nabs $4.49 M. Flatiron Flat "Superstar party-planner David Tutera has very particular tastes, so he looked at more than 75 New York apartments before settling on a full-floor condo at East 21st Street's Infinity Flats listed at $4.495 million." Big Yin Buys Big Apartment for $3.85 M. "Despite his illustriously shaggy hair and dirty mouth, sexagenarian Scottish comedian Billy Connolly isn't (yet) a humor icon in America. Maybe that will change for New Yorkers: He and his wife Pamela, a comedienne-turned-psychotherapist, have bought a Flatiron District apartment." Go to Manhattan Transfers by Max Abelson. Vacancy! High-End Renters Flee to Buy "Could the suddenly busy sales market be draining Manhattan's luxury rentals? Landlords and brokerages report more luxury tenants leaving, partly due to a largely unexplainable upturn in the Manhattan sales market this past winter." Go to The Lab by Tom Acitelli. Childs: 'Most Extraordinary Project Ever Done' "For David Childs, the Freedom Tower's merely the tip of his Gotham iceberg--there's also Moynihan Station, vetting other ground-zero architects, and using I.M. Pei's advice to navigate City Hall." Go the The Sit-Down by Matthew Schuerman. The Greening of Domino "On Thursday, March 15, Domino magazine became the latest to celebrate a "green issue," at Industria Super Studio, with eco-friendly paper towels and mops and almonds and other props." Go to Interiors by Toni Schlesinger. Deeds and Deals A Week in New York Real Estate

Forest City Ratner sent out a press release on Thursday saying that the former Ward Bread Bakery at Pacific and Vanderbilt streets in Prospect Heights was next in line for the Atlantic Yards treatment, with abatement and demolition scheduled to begin Monday.

But don't cry too hard, because the building, the target of an unsuccessful landmarking attempt, will come back in its next life as an insect or something: Some 75 percent of the demolition debris will be recycled.  read more »

The full release after the jump.

- Matthew Schuerman

When the city's Economic Development Corporation earlier this month explained how it planned to spend the $205 million in taxpayer money that it had earmarked for Atlantic Yards, one purpose it did not mention was lobbying expenses. But opponents are now making hay of a report that shows that Forest City Ratner spent $2.11 million for lobbying in 2006, the third highest amount of any company in the state.

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn calls this a "shell game," considering how the money that Forest City is saving on EDC-approved uses like land acquisition can be spent lobbying state and city officials (and because a lot of the city money is going to the state because the railyards will cost $100 million).

The Real Estate thinks the big winner in all of this is lobbying firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, which received $656,520 for its efforts. Among other targets listed in its lobbying report are "acquisition of Altantic Avenue railyards from MTA" and "acquisition of city-owned property at Atlantic Yards."

Apparently, Mr. Fried and Mr. Frank persuaded Forest City that it needed their help persuading the state and the city to do things that they pledged when they signed a memorandum of understanding (PDF) back in 2005, and for a sweet price.

In its registration letter filed with the state lobbying commission, Forest City agreed to pay up to $995 an hour for Fried Frank's services.

- Matthew Schuerman

Forest City Ratner says that the judge's decision invalidating its control of two properties in the Atlantic Yards footprint will be appealed. An e-mailed statement on Wednesday afternoon reads:

"We cannot comment in detail on the decision today because the suit did not directly involve Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), said Jeffrey Braun, an attorney for Forest City Ratner. "FCRC purchased the leases for the property in question from another developer. That developer of course believed he had the right to sell those leases under his contract with the landlord, as is often the case with leases such as these held for extended periods of time. The decision issued today by Judge Harkavy says that he did not. The developer has advised us that he will appeal the decision. Finally, we do not believe that this decision will have any impact of the project and are continuing with the preparatory work begun last week."

- Matthew Schuerman Correction: An earlier post said that Forest City would appeal the ruling. Since the case is between the landlord and leasee (which then tried to sell the lease to Ratner), the development company has no direct role in the litigation. It will be the leasee, Shaya Boymelgreen, who will appeal.

... in the Atlantic Yards footprint. Or he never had them in the beginning. Norman Oder is reporting on a state Supreme Court ruling released on Tuesday. Don't miss Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's jubilant statement.

The Real Estate has calls into Forest City Ratner and will update this post when it gets a response.

- Matthew Schuerman

Pat Foye, the new downstate chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation, is expected to visit the Atlantic Yards site in central Brooklyn on March 22. The tour, made at the request of City Councilwoman Letitia James, comes after a dubious construction start by developer Forest City Ratner that cut off water to some residents who don't even live in the footprint. The ESDC authorized the arena-and-housing project, and is acquiring property for it via eminent domain.

"It's for the ESDC to familiarize themselves with the area and meet some of the stakeholders," said Kate Suisman, chief of staff for Ms. James. "They still have leverage and we are hoping that if they see the area, they will know what they are talking about when issues come up in the future."

- Matthew Schuerman

Japanese retailer Muji has signed the first retail lease at the future New York Times headquarters on Eighth Avenue. The retailer, with products supposedly based on a "philosophy of simplicity, minimalism and consumer functionality," has taken 5,000 square feet in the tower for its American flagship.

The store, according to a release from Times tower developer Forest City Ratner, will overlook "the moss-and-birch-tree garden on the ground floor," and will open in time for the 2007 holiday season.  read more »

Full release after the jump.

- Tom Acitelli

The lease for the New York Times Building was pretty specific about keeping out downmarket chain stores. So it's no surprise that the first retail tenant to sign up is MUJI, an "environmentally conscious retailer based in Japan," whose products can be picked up in the MoMA Design Store.

Full release after the jump  read more »

Stop what you're doing: The Empire State Development Corporation has released its financial projections for the Atlantic Yards project! Brownstoner has them, and, apparently, they conform to the speculation of project opponents:

"[A]t first glance they do not paint as profitable a picture as many opponents suspect, generating a mediocre [internal rate of return] of 9.6 percent. The biggest thing that jumps out at us is that they show that Forest City Ratner is planning to cash out out most of the pieces of the project in 2015."

- Tom Acitelli

Calling it a state and a local matter the federal government should abstain from, a federal magistrate recommended on Friday throwing out the eminent-domain case brought by tenants and property owners opposed to the Atlantic Yards project. The plaintiffs, including those who live in the footprint of the 22-acre project in central Brooklyn, want to stop the state from using eminent domain to seize property.

The U.S. Court for the Eastern District of New York still makes the final decision on the federal lawsuit, but the magistrate's recommendation can't help matters for the plaintiffs. The defendants include developer Forest City Ratner, Mayor Bloomberg and former Governor George Pataki.  read more »

The full recommendation from Magistrate Robert M. Levy after the jump.

- Tom Acitelli

Forest City Ratner still does not own the 8-acre rail yard that will form the backbone of its Atlantic Yards project, but that did not keep the company from starting "preparatory work" on Tuesday. (From the looks of this photo, they needed to shovel the snow first.)

The developer agreed to buy the property from the M.T.A. back in September 2005 for $100 million, but there are some "technical issues" that have yet to be resolved before closing the deal, M.T.A. spokesman Sam Zambuto told The Real Estate.

"At this point, there is no time-frame set for closing the deal," he said.

Neither Mr. Zambuto nor Forest City spokesman Joe DePlasco would say whether the company was waiting until lawsuits were resolved before closing. Mr. DePlasco said the work was being done under a "license agreement."

Maybe that's not so surprising: Would you pay that much for a rusty old rail yard unless you were really sure you could put it to use?

- Matthew Schuerman UPDATE: Mr. Zambuto called back to add that there was no written agreement that stipulated that deal would have to wait until the lawsuits are resolved.

The Brooklyn Paper got a hold of an audit conducted for the state that reveals that Forest City Ratner was planning on charging outside organizations $100,000 to rent the Nets arena for graduation ceremonies and other non-sporting events--while the company had once promised to make it available to community groups for "a reasonable rate." A Nets official said the actual rate may vary.

The audit also says that Forest City expects to clear $400 million a year in "pure profit," according to the community weekly.

- Matthew Schuerman Update: Norman Oder had this first.

Richard Lipsky, whom we have noted is a paid consultant to Forest City Ratner, pumps up the warm and fuzzy part of the Nets arena naming deal : a $2.5 million "Nets-Barclays Sports Alliance." Compared to the nearly $400 million that the Nets are getting for the arena naming rights, this is the stuff that comes out of chickens, but it does show how broad and extensive Forest City's efforts have been to gain support for the Atlantic Yards project. -Matthew Schuerman

Blogger Norman Oder figures that the sale of the naming rights for the Nets' new home in Brooklyn will cover about half of the bond payments for the arena.

Or, rather, the "nearly $400 million" from Barclays Bank would cover that much of the construction cost if the developer, Forest City Ratner, had not been offered, by the state and the city, an even better way to pay off the bonds: the diversion of property taxes and rent.

- Matthew Schuerman

Three more plaintiffs, in addition to the original 10, have joined the eminent domain lawsuit against the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, including one who owns a building where developer Forest City Ratner allegedly installed a security camera without his permission. - Matthew Schuerman

Blogger Norman Oder has a rundown of the first court appearance on Tuesday for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's eminent domain lawsuit against Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards. Another piece of the project opponents' legal strategy emerged: that government's power to take private property rests with the legislature, not the executive branch. The Atlantic Yards condemnations are being undertaken by the Empire State Development Corporation, which is appointed by the governor.

Oder even catches a moment when the E.S.D.C. lawyer cites a federal appeals court decision to support the idea that judges should not be making eminent domain decisions. But since that case said it was the "legislative" and not "administrative" arm that should be in charge instead, the lawyer had to do some on-the-spot editing.

If the legislature-only principle wins the day, the case will have a huge impact on the way New York state does business.

Meanwhile, City Council Member Letitia James, an Atlantic Yards opponent, met with a Dolan family lobbyist this week, The Brooklyn Papers reports.

- Matthew Schuerman

Norman Oder uncovered a little document on his blog that says volumes about the way things get built in New York: On Jan. 13 of this year, Forest City Ratner presented the Department of City Planning with four different versions of the Atlantic Yards complex, ranging from a massive 8.76 million zoning square feet, which was the publicized version at the time, to a slightly smaller 7.96-million-square-foot version. (By comparison, the Williamsburgh Bank Building nearby is about 400,000 square feet.)

When City Planning urged an 8 percent reduction in scale, it was merely asking the developer to adopt something like Option 20B, which was the least dense of the four Frank Gehry versions that developer Bruce Ratner had shown commissioners. What's surprising isn't so much the back-room negotiations as the fact that City Planning did not push for anything substantially smaller than what Ratner was apparently comfortable with.

The planning commissioners even passed up Ratner's offer to cut the tallest tower, Miss Brooklyn, by 25 feet, preferring the reductions to come off a building that was closer to Park Slope's brownstones.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Speaks, the moderate wing of the Atlantic Yards opposition sponsored by the Municipal Art Society and other groups, charges that the project as presented in the final environmental impact statement "has only been changed in response to comments submitted by the Department of City Planning, and not those by the general public." - Matthew Schuerman

The Atlantic Yards project passed another milestone on Wednesday when the state's economic development agency released the final environmental impact statement, this time reflecting the 8 percent reduction (or whatever you want to call it) that the city Planning Department foisted upon the developer, Forest City Ratner.

The next step is for the Empire State Development Corporation to meet again to approve the general project plan, and then for the now-fabled Public Authorities Control Board to assent -- both of which could happen before Eliot Spitzer is sworn in as governor on Jan. 1.

Spitzer supports the 22-acre arena-and-housing complex, but he might have wanted to tinker a bit around the edges -- which, it now seems, he will not be able to do. E.S.D.C. Chairman Charles Gargano said he would respond to any concerns the Governor-elect raises in the next few weeks, but gave no indication he was willing to push final action into the next Governor's term.  read more »

"This thing is overplayed -- and I've seen this on a couple of projects -- about [how] we are trying to get projects done by the end of the year. We are trying to get projects done," Gargano told reporters. "Should we delay them because we are towards the end of the administration? Of course not. We should treat projects in their normal course."

- Matthew Schuerman

The IRS is planning to revisit the financing scheme behind the new Yankees and Mets stadiums because, according to sources cited by The Bond Buyer, the arrangements looked "too much like a private loan." The feds approved those deals earlier this year, concluding that the payments in lieu of taxes that the sports teams would use to pay off the bonds resembled general taxes. Dan Steinberg, research analyst at Good Jobs New York, told us that it is unclear if the proposed regulations would have prohibited the stadium bonds had they been in place earlier (thay almost certainly won't affect them now, just other similar projects around the country), but that yesterday's action "is a reflection of the ambiguities in the IRS decision and how difficult it is for the IRS to make the case that PILOTS are the same thing as tax revenue."

What's the big deal? The new regulations will drive to the heart of the question about whether cities should be allowed to use their power to issue tax-exempt bonds for the benefit of privately owned sports franchises (which don't even make it into the World Series, to boot). And the new rules may imperil Forest City Ratner's deal to finance the Nets arena.

-Matthew Schuerman

Rafael Cestero, deputy commissioner at the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, is the first insider to say what some outsiders had already suspected: Forest City Ratner has made no commitment to complete the second phase of Atlantic Yards by any particular date, according to Norman Oder's account of yesterday's City Planning Commission meeting. So much for those hundreds of affordable apartments and seven acres of open space that the developer and Empire State Development Corporation advertise would come by 2016. -Matthew Schuerman

• How big will Atlantic Yards be? Possibly 8% smaller than Forest City Ratner had originally hoped, which makes it a mere 8 million square feet. On the one hand, the cutback is merely a recommendation of the City Planning Commission, which has no tangible power--on the other hand, the developers readily admit that the CPC downsize suggestion was "precooked" in order to make the plans "more politically palatable." Scandal, anyone? (New York Times)
• When the $400 million Second Avenue subway line is built from 63rd to 92nd, the Upper East Side will finally become habitable. On second thought, doesn't everyone up there take taxis anyway? (NY1)
• Who cares about billion-dollar promises to save our environment, the world, etc? The best part of the Clinton Global Initiative was a small but heartfelt pledge from Interface Inc to make "carbon neutral" carpeting. Now expensive interior designers and their wealthy clients can help "offset the emissions associated with [their] carpet or fabric," which is the best thing to happen to the Upper East Side since the news about that new subway. (Interior Design)
• Quote of the Month: "East Harlem is the next place." That's a soundbite from a Globe St. story on the upcoming $250 million sale of 48 buildings between 100th and 122nd Street. But there's a long way to go: this week's CityLimits paints a stark picture of "the least patronized municipal market in the city." (C.L.)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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The Municipal Art Society and eight neighborhood or civic groups carved out the "moderate" position on Atlantic Yards when it launched the BrooklynSpeaks website last night. They suggest, in an indirect way, that scaling down the housing-and-arena complex by one-third or one-half would be enough. Develop--Don't Destroy Brooklyn is still not happy, but on balance, this is much worse news for the developer, Forest City Ratner. Introducing a more polite way to oppose something will just mean more opposition. -Matthew Schuerman

• What kind of real estate power does the average New Yorker wield? Over in Brooklyn, citizen groups have banded together to "create room for negotiation" with Forest City Ratner. (FCR has already responded well to their "reasonable middle ground" position.) Then over in Stuy Town, the young Councilman Dan Garodnick and his 25,000 neighbors are fighting against multinational conglomerates. Who will win?! Tune in next week. (The New York Times)
• How does Mayor Mike make New York the foremost environmentally sustainable American city? By meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger in Sunnyvale, figuring out "a bold plan to use our land in the smartest way possible," enlisting the help of hotshot architects, politicos and execs, then painting his government "green." (See the post below for more.) (StreetsBlog)
• Give a warm 'hello' to the latest monster real estate investment trust. It's called Archstone-Smith, and it's hungry: the fancy Key West Building on Columbus Avenue has been bought by the group for $110m, and their new Avalon Bowery apartments will be finished in early 2007. Avalon is sure to succeed, because kids on the Bowery love their "cardio theatres". (Crain's)
• To everything there is a season, and therefore Staten Island will one day enjoy its place in the sun of outer borough hipness. For now, though, it's only a "hot spot" of unexpected and dangerous radioactivity, according to the Government Accountability Office. Great Kills Park needs a cleaning, and a new name. (AP via NY Daily News)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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Still no office towers from the city's 2004 Downtown Brooklyn Development plan, but The New York Sun carries news of a 1 million square foot mixed-use building for CUNY, an unspecified number of "private corporations" and condos to be developed by Forest City Ratner.

-Matthew Schuerman (via No Land Grab)

• Yesterday's vote bodes well for Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards development. Why? Hakeem Jeffries toppled two anti-Yards candidates, Yvette Clarke won a congressional primary high above her Ratner-critic candidate, and Congressman Ed Towns toppled the anti-Yards councilman Charles Barron. (The Empire Zone/NYT)
• The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council offers up More Songs About Buildings and Food: Recipes for Downtown, a book with 60 plans for lower New York's future utopia. Ex-Talking Head David Byrne goes the bicycle route, Lyn Rice de-centralizes the Park, and of course Christo + Jeanne-Claude share a recipe for the Bulgarian yogurt dish tartor. (Metropolis)
• Speaking of utopian design, the Journal declares that black is interior design's new black. Why the somber new trend? It's a "response to jitters about stagnating incomes, plane crashes and terrorism, and a desire to create womblike refuges." But is it comforting that Kohler now sells its sinks in colors like "black black"? (WSJ)
• Lusby Simpson's mammoth building at 111 Eighth Avenue will become the proud new home of Google's New York HQ. There's buzz about the company's insane hard-wiring plans, which may create the globe's largest computer network--yet isn't it more interesting that the G Men are squeezing 300,000 square feet into just two floors? At $33 per square foot, that'll cost a pretty penny. (Village Voice)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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• Wowzers. City officials say Forest City Ratner is reducing the bulk of Atlantic Yards "by 6 to 8 percent," which means a potential downsize of 500,000 to 700,000 square-feet. Plus, the big Yards tower--dubbed Miss Brooklyn, of course--may not be the tallest in the borough! (That makes designer Frank Gehry quite unhappy, apparently. Then there's Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, which gives a gorgeous quote: "They could chop Miss Brooklyn in half in terms of the height, and that won't change our position." (New York Times)
• Continuing it's recent tradition of ripping off stories, the WSJ breaks the riveting tale of kiddie-centric condo amenities. It's old news, but it's still disgusting--unless you're into on-call Trump nannies and designer playgrounds. (WSJ)
• The delicious Krispy Kreme flagship in Chelsea is shutting its delicious doors, which leaves merely two KK donut shops in Manhattan. Those franchisee lawsuits, those trans fats, and that SEC investigation probably weren't great for business. (NY Post)
• Sagaponack, proud home of the world's richest zip code, is protesting a new BBQ place helmed by the owners of Nick & Toni's. It's not that they don't love BBQ! But: "Do you like to play golf first thing in the morning smelling barbecue?" Of course we don't. If this gusto keeps up, maybe the Hamptons won't die after all. (New York)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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The Regional Plan Association, which staunchly opposed the West Side Stadium last year, is taking a milder position on the Atlantic Yards proposal in Brooklyn. In a statement issued today (in preparation for tomorrow's public hearing), the planning group ominously predicts that "without sufficient investments from the public sector, the accumulated development in downtown Brooklyn will lead to unbearable congestion."

The R.P.A. focuses, though, on the open space planned for the eastern part of the footprint, saying it should be redesigned to feel more public and that it should be taken over by the city Parks Department or an independent nonprofit funded by the developer, Forest City Ratner.

Full press release after the jump. A more extensive (and critical) version is on the group's website.  read more »

-Matthew Schuerman

Atlantic Yards opponents discover what they think is the real reason (or at least another) that Forest City Ratner has sought review by the Empire State Development Corporation as opposed to the normal city land use process: city zoning "prohibits arenas within 200 feet of residential districts."

-Matthew Schuerman *No Arena in My Backyard

Investment firm Legg Mason signed a lease for six of Forest City Ratner's floors at the new New York Times headquarters at Eighth Avenue and 41st Street, the developer announced today, the largest lease so far. The developer, setting aside some space for signed tenants' expansion, is looking to fill just four more floors. --Matthew Schuerman

Bruce Ratner is selling the remainder of his real estate holdings to parent company Forest City Enterprises for $60 million in cash plus a stake in the new holding partnership. (FCE had previously owned a "majority" stake in Forest City Ratner.) NoLandGrab, the opposition blog, thinks this is a sign of Ratner's desperate financial straits, but whatever the reason, investors are neither impressed nor frightened. The parent company's stock is up just a few cents since the announcement was made after the market's closing last night. -Matthew Schuerman

Tonight, Dick Cheney will attend a fundraiser for Ray Meier's congressional campaign.

On Sunday, Green Party nominee for Attorney General, Rachel Treichler, will hold a press conference on the approval process for the proposed Forest City Ratner Atlantic Yards development project.

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn will hold a rally in Grand Army Plaza (pdf).

Tom Suozzi will deliver a speech at the Grace Baptist Church in Brooklyn, addressing the need for the Democratic Party to show respect for issues in minority communities.

Eliot Spitzer and Tom Suozzi will both march in the Dominican Day Parade in the Bronx.

—Nicole Brydson

From Ron Shiffman's commentary on Atlantic Yards:

If Forest City Ratner's proposal proceeds at the current scale, it would constitute the densest residential community in the United States and, perhaps, Europe, with the exception of some of the suburbs of Paris.

-Matthew Schuerman

Tuesday's night informational meeting brought some fresh faces to the Atlantic Yards debate: instead of the overwhelmingly white neighbors who have objected on any number of grounds to the 22-acre housing complex and basketball arena, a striking number of individuals in the largely black crowd who showed up at the Brooklyn Marriott were disappointed to find that "affordable housing" was not that affordable, or accessible.

"If a two-bedroom is over $2,000, I don't see why this is even better than what we have now?" one audience member asked. "My second point is, Why is all of this in Brooklyn? What about the rest of the boroughs? I'm from Staten Island. I'm not a police officer. I don't see myself getting on the list."  read more »

She got a lot of applause, and the moderators, Bertha Lewis of ACORN and Jim Stuckey of Forest City Ratner, the developer, were a little hard pressed to respond. After all, what do you say when someone complains that housing in New York, even subsidized housing, is expensive? If you don't like it, there are plenty of people in line behind you.

We can't help but remark on the purely coincidental pairing of two Atlantic Yards events tonight aimed at two very different constituencies, one mainly for people looking to move to the neighborhood and the other largely for people who already live there. Read below for Max Abelson's report on the Forest City Ratner-ACORN extravaganza. There also happens to be the first of a series of meetings on how the community can respond to the draft environmental impact statement expected next week. That one, sponsored by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, is at 7 p.m. at St. Cyril's Belarusian Cathedral, 401 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Hurry--maybe you can get to both. -Matthew Schuerman

Appetites for a heated "public informational" discussion on Atlantic Yards' affordable housing can be satisfied this very evening--6:30 at the Brooklyn Bridge NY Marriott. Forest City Ratner's Jim Stuckey, newly dubbed President of the Atlantic Yards Development Group, will lead "an overview of the housing plan for Atlantic Yards," along with Bertha Lewis of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Afterwards, the audience can ask their favorite rabble-rousing questions about the "unprecedented" Brooklyn project.

Best of all, a press release announces: "While applications are not available for housing at this time - the project is still in the public review stage - people will be able to provide their contact information for later follow-up." Atlantic Yards, here we come.

Is this get-together not huge enough to demand the presence of Mr. Bruce Ratner himsellf? "Oh no," clarified spokesperson Lupe Todd, "it's huge."  read more »

UPDATE: It's so huge, in fact, that a second session has been set up at 8:15 to accomodate overflow. The RSVP phone-line (718-923-5300) announces that tonight's attendence has been cut-off--a source says 5,100 have already expressed interest--though a Forest City Ratner rep suggests trying the 8:15 session. - Max Abelson

Brooklyn Council Member David Yassky's plea for $3 million for BUILD, a pro-Ratner group, failed to get into the 2007 city budget passed June 30, according to the expense budget posted online (PDF). The application for the grant, widely seen as never having had much of a chance anyway, does however include some interesting details about how BUILD--a new nonprofit organization that sprouted up in order to take advantage of the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn--wants to do its job training.

For one, BUILD's training program for union construction jobs would be so large--preparing 300 disadvantaged individuals a year, with about 230 of them actually finishing--that it would dominate the city's apprenticeship system. The union-run sytem typically offers 1,200 slots a year, just 35 percent, or 420, of which will be set aside for disadvantaged people, which is the category that BUILD's trainees would likely fall into.

The other thing is that while BUILD wants to give "priority enrollment" to "NYCHA residents, low-income individuals, moderate income individuals, disconnected young adults and young adults aging out of foster care," the Mayor and the unions have other priorities. They pledged last fall to give those 420 slots to graduates of public high schools, returning veterans and women, meaning that BUILD trainees may not find any space for them even in the new more progressive apprenticeship system.

BUILD does have other options of course: it can seek money from Forest City Ratner, which has given it $285,000 so far.

-Matthew Schuerman

Opponents of Atlantic Yards are planning to come out in force at tonight's panel held by the Municipal Arts Society on the arena and housing complex in Central Brooklyn. An e-mail sent out Sunday to volunteers of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, whose leaders had seen a preview three weeks ago, said the esteemed urbanist organization's plan was "UNACCEPTABLE." The e-mail exhorted the volunteers to show up with the same sign ("It will make a good photo-op") and also to "ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS."

Well, the call to arms is still in force, though DDDB has since (they say yesterday) e-mailed an update revising its talking points. "It was clarified to us, or they changed their minds, that they are not going to present a plan, but their principles," DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein told us. Vanessa Gruen, MAS director of special projects, said, "We do not have an alternative plan. I don't know why they have been characterizing it that way."  read more »

More after the jump.

Well, can it work? As objective reporters, The Real Estate is not about to weigh in on that one. But tomorrow night, The Municipal Art Society will be hosting a public meeting asking that very question.

The full release is after the jump.  read more »

Even on an otherwise slow day we get news from Brooklyn.

Forest City Ratner says it has received "approximately 20,000" responses to its Atlantic Yards mailer, the apparent majority of them saying that the affordable housing was the most important part of the proposed development, according to a press release. (No word on how many bricks were sent in.)

Meanwhile, Norman Oder says the Ratner demo men have been cited for a defective fence, and that back hoes are getting awfully close to occupied apartments. Even more evidence that good fences make good neighbors.

And Thursday evening, the Municipal Art Society tries to step in to the morass (watch out for those arrows!) with a plan of its own for the area that will be unveiled before a public forum at 6:30 p.m. at the Hanson Place Central Methodist Church in Fort Greene.

-Matthew Schuerman

UPDATE: Since we received a couple requests for the Forest City press release, we are reproducing it after the jump.  read more »

Forest City Ratner just announced that it had bought out its partner, ING, for its share of the new New York Times headquarters on Eighth Avenue and 41st Street. That brings its share up to 42 percent of the 1.5 million-square foot tower, with the newspaper company owning, and occupying, floors 2-28. -Matthew Schuerman

... but is he contrite?

His statement after the jump.  read more »

-Matthew Schuerman

Crain's is reporting that the law firm Seyfarth Shaw has signed the first lease in the Renzo Piano-designed headquarters of the New York Times, currently being built at 620 Eighth Avenue.

"We have a number of other leases out, but Seyfarth Shaw is the first to cross the finish line," said Forest City Ratner Cos. President Bruce Ratner, in a statement.

Forest City Ratner, which owns floo