FOR SUBSCRIBERS | ANALYSIS OF NEW YORK'S TOP REAL ESTATE NEWS

Greenland USA can move forward with the platform at Pacific Park. But will it?

The developer and the MTA have reached a handshake deal on how to move forward with the platform over the railyard by Barclays Center, to ensure the Long Island Rail Road’s operations are undisturbed by the work.

Greenland estimates building the platform will take 36 to 40 months, after which three towers can be built. But when Greenland will start on the platform is unclear.

The developer indicated that it is discussing a date with the MTA, but the absence of 421a looms large. Greenland has maintained that it will need the tax break or some kind of subsidy to deliver the remaining affordable housing required at Pacific Park.

“Like all developers, we're trying to work out the landscape of no tax abatements,” Greenland’s Joshua Cohen said at a public meeting this week. “We're working through exactly the timing schedule of how we build and what we build."

The developer has indicated that only one of the three towers — a 682-unit building dubbed B5 — planned atop the platform vested under the now-expired program. It would still need to beat the June 2026 completion deadline to get the tax break.

I was told that the state is waiting to see if the legislature reauthorizes 421a. If not, the officials would consider providing benefits akin to the tax break through another mechanism, such as payments in lieu of taxes.

But Greenland does not have time for a wait-and-see approach. The agreement for what used to be called Atlantic Yards requires the developer to deliver 2,250 below-market apartments by the end of May 2025. Greenland is still 876 short. 

It seems likely that the firm will bring on a partner if it plans to see the project through. Keep an eye out for more coverage.

What we're thinking about: How are landlords bracing for the potential enactment of two bills that would, among other things, change rent law overcharge cases? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com. 

CLOSING TIME

Residential: The priciest residential closing recorded Thursday was $16.6 million for a condo unit at 217 West 57th Street in Midtown.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $10.8 million for a four-unit home at 76 First Place in Carroll Gardens.

BREAKING GROUND

The largest new building filing of the day was for a 36,000-square-foot, six-story, mixed-use building at 25-86 31st Street in Astoria. Angelo & Anthony Architects filed the permit application.

NEW TO THE MARKET

The priciest residence to hit the market Thursday was a condo apartment in Lenox Hill asking $14 million. Brown Harris Stevens has the listing.
— Jay Young

A thing we've learned: “Stenchful,” which I thought I made up and have gleefully used to describe mysterious smells emanating from Jersey City sewers, is in fact a real word.

Elsewhere in New York

— The city has found beds for the more than 100 migrants who were camped outside the intake center at the Roosevelt Hotel, Gothamist reports. MTA buses arrived Wednesday night to transport them to city shelters. Officials maintain that the shelter system has run out of space. “We are doing our best to offer placements whenever we have space available, have two additional humanitarian relief centers scheduled to come online in the coming weeks to serve this population, and are eternally grateful for our partnership with faith-based organizations who are offering some asylum-seekers a place to rest their heads,” a City Hall spokesperson said. 

— The City Council on Thursday voted to make outdoor dining permanent, but with a major caveat. Restaurants must take down their outdoor dining structures each winter. Restaurant owners argue that the stipulation will push them to permanently remove their outdoor dining structures, the New York Times reports. 

— The Council also introduced a package of bills aimed at ramping up parking garage safety, following the fatal collapse of a garage in April, the New York Daily News reports. The measures would, among other things, require weight restrictions for parking garage levels and require inspections every four years, with check-ups every two. A law passed last year required inspections every six years.