State to Evict Holdouts in Seven Properties in Atlantic Yards Footprint
You may have thought everyone in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park footprint had already moved, but nope, there are a few households still left. The state already seized title from seven of the remaining properties, a few of which are residential, above, and there are at least two families still living in them. One of these…
You may have thought everyone in the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park footprint had already moved, but nope, there are a few households still left. The state already seized title from seven of the remaining properties, a few of which are residential, above, and there are at least two families still living in them. One of these has a newborn. Also, the three houses at 491-495 Dean Street, above, are good-looking 19th century buildings.
And guess what? The remaining families want equivalent homes somewhere else in Prospect Heights, which would cost about $3,000,000 or so each. The state says they should be satisfied with a $1,500,000 property in Bed Stuy or Crown Heights, said the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report, which attended a hearing on the matter Thursday. One of the owners pointed out his property is worth even more as a development site for a skyscraper.
We were surprised to read all this, knowing that condo owner and anti-Atlantic Yards activist Daniel Goldstein and others got much more for their slighter holdings.
By the way, P.C. Richard and Modell’s will also be condemned, to make way for a 250-foot tower.
What do you think would be fair compensation for the homeowners?
Nearly All in Atlantic Yards Footprint Have Left; State Moves Toward Residential Eviction [AYR]
Photo by AYR
Prices in PH have increased as have most of ‘downtown’ Brooklyn DESPITE Atlantic Yards. To say that those homes are worth more now because of Atlantic Yard is misleading.
Prices in PH were not increasing by up to 10X pre-AY! The extent that some are going to as a means of denying the impact of Atlantic Yards on property values/development is a bit mind boggling.
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But here’s something: therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-stadium-stimulus/
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From the article:
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“Conceived in 2003, the project was mired in controversy and held up by lawsuits. And once it finally had approvals in place, the financial crisis hit, stifling construction financing. The arena broke ground in 2010, and the first residential building, the prefabricated B2, finally started construction in December. In October, Forest City sold 70 percent of the megaproject to Chinese developer Greenland Holding Group, which subsequently pledged to complete the entire project in eight years.
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B2, with 363 rental units and 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, is slated to open at the end of the year. It’s one of 14 residential buildings planned for Atlantic Yards. In all, the plan includes 6,430 housing units, 250,000 square feet of retail spread throughout the residential buildings, and up to 1.6 million square feet of commercial office space.
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Despite the delays, surrounding land prices and retail prices have increased. Before Barclays opened, land was going for $75 to $125 per square foot, said Josh Goldflam, managing principal of Highcap Group. Now it trades for $200 per square foot and higher. Developers are taking advantage of the M zoning — typically not desirable —in the area to build hotels.
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Five years ago, $30 per square foot was the going rate for retail rents. Now it’s $150 a foot, said Timothy King, managing partner of real estate services for CPEX.
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“I think you can draw a very clear line connecting those dots,” King said.
Housing prices have similarly benefited. Median home prices in the four neighborhoods surrounding the center — Boerum Hill, Clinton Hill, Park Slope and Prospect Heights — more than outpaced boroughwide gains since the project broke ground in 2010, according to StreetEasy.”
If I were the owners, I’d lawyer up and not move. Those houses are worth $3m or more even if Atlantic Yards WASN’T right there cause that’s what nice brownstones in PH costs these days.
First off, those homes aren’t “nice brownstones” so I’m failing to see the comparison. Secondly, brownstones are hardly the only housing stock in the neighborhood. Upgrading them to a $3 million brownstone simply because their homes are today worth around that much, but only due to the passage of time due to their stalling and as a result of the AY development, seems a bit perverse.
This eminent domain process, while contentious, is certainly legal. The practice has been cleared by both the U.S. Supreme Court and by the NY Court of Appeals. I’m all for state constitutional amendments further limiting the use of eminent domain, but NY still allows for a pretty liberal eminent domain process compared to certain other states.
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Anonluker, it was only with the announcement of The AY project that developers took such an aggressive approach with this neighborhood. And it makes sense. With such a huge capital investment, the neighborhood was bound to see new interest and development. Knowing the change that was coming, I can’t tell you how many developers came knocking on my and my neighbors’ scores once it became clear the project was going forward…these are people who would not have dared done so previously, and certainly not at the prices they were offering. I can’t speak to other neighborhoods, but know what I’ve seen here.
I don’t know the law on this, so am only speaking about personal opinion. People get into these battles knowing that the state nearly ALWAYS wins as the state and federal governments have the constitution on their side; in, fact, the number of times the state loses eminent domain battles is so slim that it’s neglible. Thus, we see battles like this often in an effort by homeowners to “wait” and see prices increase, regardless of whether they were offered a fair market rate 10 or however many years ago, so that they can make more money. In this case, the plot is even more ridiculous as the values in the area have largely increased due to the very project that the state seeks to condemn the properties to build. That, to me, is perverse. Should my family, having bought our home circa 1999 for 200k when this project wasn’t on the horizon, be allowed to demand $2 million for our home today due to passage of time simply because we launched what we knew to be a losing court battle against ED ten years ago despite the fact that we were offered fair market value for our property at the beginning of the process? I don’t think so, and doing so encourages what I call bad behavior and does little else, from a law and order point of view, but tie up an already overburdened court system.
I agree completely. The idea of my kids running out of the front door would scare me to death.
newton, no, I do not work for FCR, though it wouldn’t be such a bad gig. My turn for a question, though: are you going to add anything of substance to this discussion or just attack posters trying to engage in honest chat here?
I see we’ll just have to disagree about the degree of danger here. I see right turns onto Flatbush from Atlantic as being fine, especially during rush hours, as that intersection is so clogged that cars have to inch their way around that turn. Even during regular hours, I’ve never had a problem crossing there. As for the angles making it hard to see if you’re making a turn there in a vehicle, I have no problem there either. Also, I don’t see all that much light running at that intersection, especially since they’ve put a camera there (or what looks like one to most motorists). But, hey, that’s my perception of things . . . and I cross there very frequently as well.