So. Let's see. Forest City Ratner, it appears, is going to stop 38 stories short
of its 76-story, 900-unit Downtown Manhattan, Frank Gehry designed tower, which
is already well underway. But the same Forest City Ratner claims it can finance
and build a one-billion-dollar-18,000-seat arena and 16 skyscrapers including
a hotel, an office tower and 6,430 units of housing, aka the as-of-yet commenced
$4 billion Atlantic Yards project.
And the only things stopping the Atlantic Yards project are lawsuits...so
they say.
Fascinating.
Which lawsuit is forcing them to cut half of their Gehry/Beekman tower?
WNYC reported
on this this morning. But there is slightly more comment from Ratner in this
Crain's article.
Developer
cuts tower from 76 stories to 38
Gehry Tower near City Hall put on hold 38 stories short of goal.
Crain's New
York Business. By Amanda Fung
The Beekman Tower, the Frank Gehry-designed luxury rental building in lower
Manhattan, has been put on hold 38 stories short of its planned height of
76 floors.
Developer Forest City Ratner Cos. says that work will continue on the lower
stories, but added that no additional floors will be added pending an evaluation
of costs.
The tower will have a 100,000 square-foot public school for pre-K and eighth
graders, ground floor retail space, and an ambulatory care center for its
next door neighbor—the New York Downtown Hospital. The building was to have
roughly 900 apartments with stunning views of lower Manhattan and the nearby
Brooklyn Bridge and was expected to open next year.
“Given the current economy, we are conducting a study to assess costs,
risks and overall timing,” said a spokesperson for the company, in
a statement. “Work is continuing on the building including on the school and
we should have some conclusive answers shortly.”
The spokesperson also said that the school is still scheduled to open in
time for fall 2010, but declined to comment further. The
city’s Department of Education could not be reached immediately for comment.
This sounds a lot like what Forest City Ratner said about Atlantic Yards when
it halted all work this past December. To wit: Spokesman
Joe DePlasco told The Times, "We are continuing to speak
with many arena experts and working hard to find ways to build a world class venue
in an incredibly difficult economic environment."
And aNets CEO Brett Yormark saying last year that they'd open the Barclays Center
arena in 2010 and just last week saying they'll open in 2011 and, according to
last week's Bloomberg News
fluff piece: "Yormark said the Bruce Ratner-owned team is awaiting
resolution of an eminent-domain lawsuit before breaking ground on the Barclays
Center. That may come in late spring or early summer, Ratner spokesman Barry Baum
said in an e-mail. He declined to be more specific."
The Crain's article continues:
...Last year, Forest City Ratner closed $680 million in
financing for the mixed-used development—the largest construction loan in
the company’s history. It was seen as one of the few projects in the city
that was bucking the overall real estate meltdown as construction continued.
Construction on the foundation of the Beekman Tower began in 2006...
Forest City Ratner secured the financing for the whole 76 stories last year,
and made
a big deal about it. But now they're stopping? Why are they stopping if
they have the financing?
Yet New York State is still supporting Atlantic Yards, and the arena, for
which Forest City has secured NO financing. Nobody really knows what
the arena cost is, though the last reported estimate one year ago was $950
million. And the City and State are holding the arena construction cost
as a super-duper state secret.
The State's continued, unconditional and unreflective support, even with this
recent news of the developer's Downtown Manhattan failings, is incredibly reckless.
Maybe we can get some answers? Simple ones, like the estimated cost of the arena.
Forest City Enterprises stock closed
today at $3.98, down 11.75% for the day and down from a high of $80 nearly
two years ago.
