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  1. Brooklyn Chicken FYI(and I am not saying it right just what it is). The ESDC(Empire State Development Corp) a “public entity” is seizing the land(through the use of Eminent Domain). It is this entity that will own the land and then lease it to a private developer…Forest City Ratner(or a designated company that they are using). Some of the land that Ratner has bought will be “donated” to the ESDC for it to lease back to Ratner. Some of the land will be sold to Ratner from the ESDC. City land is also being taken(city streets)- in a deal that avoids the City land use process that requires all such “sales” of city land to go through the NY City ULURP process. Also the NY City zoning land use process is being ignored by the State taking over. You can say what you want about Kelo, but the local governmental unit did none of the short circuiting of the local political unit. You and I might not like it but the local politicians all had their say- not like NY and Atlantic Yards.

  2. May not be material, but should certianly be known (and mentioned) by stockholders/investment managers discussing the situation, as opposed to saying that it was a facility linked to one product only. Actually less risky for big pharma to build something than for a financially-strapped RE developer to promise to build an arena for a basketball team of which he is a minority shareholder, financed by munis which are probably not even going to be investment grade.

  3. It’s far from material to the stock. In fact, the more closings the better as costs will come down and more profits will flow to shareholders. They are closing a lot of the redundant Wyeth facilities.

  4. Ive been to that New London area which was the scene of the battle, its near the Sailfest fireworks extravanganza.

    IMHO – its is new London’s loss that the area wasn’t dfeveloped. But I’d be pissed if I’d lived in that spot for twenty years I’m sure.

  5. Actually, accroding to the article, it was the Pfizer-Wyeth merger that prompted a re-assessment of their real estate holdings, and that the New London facility was the headquarters for its entire research division, not just one product. Really doesn’t seem like that hedge fund follows the activities of its holdings too well…

  6. Actually the New London site was to include a hotel, stores, and condominiums adjacent to the office complex Pfizer already occupied and is now leaving (from the NY Times article):
    The city had created the New London Development Corporation to buy up the nine-acre neighborhood and find a developer to replace it with an “urban village” that would draw shoppers and tourists to the area.

    “Economic development officials in Connecticut used that plan — and a package of financial incentives — to lure Pfizer to build a headquarters for its research division on 26 acres nearby. With an agreement that it would pay just one-fifth of its property taxes for the first 10 years, Pfizer spent $294 million on a 750,000-square-foot complex that opened in 2001.”

    Sound a little more familiar now? And as everyone in Brooklyn knows, sports teams can be bought, sold, and moved to other cities, leaving us with what? An outsize, inappropriate arena, surrounded by a barren wasteland…

  7. I think the issue that I’m alluding to is what is the eventual usage for the land. Granting this to Pfizer entails single company risk and, more importantly, single product risk. Pfizer wanted this for a very specific corporate purpose, likely tied to one particular product line and that IS VERY RISKY STUFF.

    AY on the other hand will be multi use tied to a vast entertainment venue serving the population of New York City and elsewhere.

  8. According to the NY Times article — if I read it correctly — the land in New London was not seized by Pfizer. It was seized by the City of New London for a private development that was somehow related to Pfizer reinvigorating the town. In the case of Atlantic Yards, the land would actually be seized by a private devloper.

    Am I missing something?