On the heels of the public release of the new designs for the Barclay Center, the centerpiece of the Atlantic Yards project and future home of the New Jersey Nets, the Independent Budget Office (IBO) released a report yesterday that the Atlantic Yards development would result in a net loss for the city of about $40 million over 30 years—costing the city’s budget $169 million but reaping only $139 million. The state, however, would be in the black for $25 million over the same period, and the transportation authority would gain $6 million in new tax revenues, according to the report. Mayor Bloomberg, the city’s Economic Development Corporation, and developer Forest City Ratner have all lambasted the report for inaccuracies. One objection is that it accounts for subsidies to the arena alone, ignoring the rest of the Atlantic Yards development, which the IBO justified by saying that subsidies to the mixed-use towers are as-of-right and available to any developer. In addition to the debate over the financial sense of the project, the timetable for completion of various stages has been called into question, as with a recent report commissioned by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods that estimates the project could not be finished by 2019 and would take at least 20 years. The Atlantic Yards Report points out that even the former CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation Marisa Lago has said that it would take decades.
Report Finds Net Loss to City of Atlantic Yards Arena [NY Times]
City Gives More Than Gets at Atlantic Yards [Crain's]
Reports Cast Doubts on Timetable, Benefits [AYR]
New Barclay’s Center Design Revealed [Brownstoner]