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Ratner's Atlantic Yards Talking Point is Wishful Thinking
Forest City Ratner's number 1 talking point—"We'll break ground in
the fall. We'll break ground by the end of the year"—is an impossibility.
Here is the talking point, in some version or another, just in today's media coverage:
In the Daily News (June 13):
...A spokesman for Forest City Ratner, which is building the Nets'
Brooklyn arena, said Ratner would break ground on the $950 million arena
later this year even without tax-exempt bonds...
In the NY
Times, a three-fer (June 13):
...The project’s developer, Forest City Ratner, says it plans
to break ground on the arena this fall and has long expected to use
tax-exempt financing to reduce its borrowing costs by tens of millions of dollars...
...In an interview this year, Bruce C. Ratner of Forest City said that he hoped
to raise about $800 million through tax-exempt bonds. He acknowledged that “the
tax changes would make it more difficult” to do the project, although
he was still optimistic that he could break ground for the arena this
fall...
...Joseph DePlasco, a spokesman for Forest City Ratner, said on Thursday that
the company remained confident that it would break ground on the arena
this fall.
In the Daily
News (June 13):
...A spokesman for Forest City Ratner, which is building the Nets'
Brooklyn arena, said Ratner would break ground on the $950 million arena
later this year even without tax-exempt bonds.
And, basically the same point is made on NY1
Bruce Ratner said (June 13):
We don't see really a problem...there's not a problem.
It's all wishful thinking. Ratner simply cannot break ground this fall. They
will not have the financing they need or the land they need, and they will be
in court.
Perhaps this is why Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Lieber let slip
at a Crain's breakfast yesterday and declared that Atlantic Yards would
be "under construction by the end of 2009." (This was
reported by Norman Oder on his Atlantic
Yards Report.) While we don't believe the Atlantic Yards project will
ever break ground, "by the end of 2009" is at least based on real possibilities
rather than pure fantasy. Of course Mr. Lieber backed off when asked about his
misspeak.
Posted: 6.13.08
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