Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group paid 33% more for the air rights to Pier 40 than they’re actually worth, according to a new appraisal.

Westbrook and Atlas paid $100M last year for 200k SF of air rights from the pier, to be added towards their nearby St. John’s Center development. The appraisal—commissioned by the Hudson River Park Trust, which sold the air rights to Westbrook and Atlas—found they’re only worth $75M, Crain’s reports.

Westbrook and Atlas might be moping a bit after hearing the news, but the upshot is that the $100M was enough to restore the deteriorating steel beams that support the pier, which houses sports fields that are extremely popular with the locals.

The firms might still have a chance to get their money back though—the sale is contingent on rezoning being approved for their St. John’s Center project.

If all goes as planned, that development will include five buildings with roughly 1M SF of market-rate residential and 300k SF of affordable and senior housing, as well as 400k SF of commercial space. The review process begins next week, and is expected to last several months. [Crain’s]