New Pacific Park Developers Want To Make The Brooklyn Megaproject Bigger
The joint venture that recently took control of Pacific Park has an ambitious new vision for the long-stalled Brooklyn development covering several blocks of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues and air rights over subway rail yards.
In a public workshop Tuesday, Cirrus Real Estate Partners and LCOR presented what they call a “feasible alternative” to the project, which is only partially built after two decades of setbacks. The plan includes bumping the density from 8M SF to 9.6M SF and adding 2,600 units of housing to the plans.
That would mean that the development would bring 9,000 apartments to the neighborhood, including the 3,212 that are already built. Cirrus and LCOR’s predecessors planned 6,400 units for the area.
“Cirrus is a mission-driven organization that firmly believes housing should be built for the people who make New York City great,” Cirrus Workforce Housing Managing Partner Joseph McDonnell said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to step up and deliver thousands of units of sorely needed housing in a public-private partnership.”
The units would be restricted as affordable to those making up to 130% of the area median income, with a focus on moderate-to-middle-income households, compared to the previous levels that ranged between 40% and 160%, according to the presentation.
Just 254 low-income housing units have been built so far, City Limits reported. Nearly 1 million New Yorkers are classified as extremely low-income, and there is a shortage of housing affordable to those renters of 631,000 units, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.
The developers also pitched eliminating one of the previously planned towers and raising the height of others to up to 775 feet. The site of that tower would add an acre of green space compared to the approved plans.
Doing so could bring the housing online more quickly, as the developers would be able to build on solid ground, according to the presentation. Previously, developers planned to build a platform over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard to support additional construction.
The new Pacific Park proposal comes roughly a month after the joint venture officially took over the megadevelopment, which included assuming $200M in debt from Greenland USA. The firm lost the project in foreclosure to EB-5 lender U.S. Immigration Fund and Fortress Investment Group after defaulting on nearly $350M in loans.
Multiple developers have attempted and failed to complete Pacific Park, once known as Atlantic Yards. Empire State Development first approved the project in 2006.
It was initially the brainchild of Barclays Center developer Forest City Ratner, before it was hit by community opposition and recession-related construction delays. In 2014, Greenland took a 70% stake in the development, before buying another 25% of the equity two years later.
Despite its $950M investment, Greenland never managed to fulfill its promises. The firm signed a 10-year agreement to build 2,250 affordable apartments by May 2025 or face $2K in fines per unfinished unit every month.
Currently, 876 units and the platform over the rail yards are left unbuilt. The state never levied those fines.
Greenland remains involved as part of the joint venture, alongside the U.S. Immigration Fund and Fortress, though the parties do not have an active role in management.
The new proposal is far from finalized. There are three more public workshops scheduled in the coming months. Additionally, to move forward, developers would also require amendments to the state’s general project plan.
