Citi Field

Much-maligned direct marketing behemoth Amway has opened its first American storefront at Citi Field, home to the financially ravaged New York Mets, Capital New York reported.

The Mets’ ownership group has been seeking out sources of revenue to help its address its debt problems, including a proposal to develop a casino next to the stadium. Moreover, in May 2012, a joint venture between Related Companies and Sterling Equities, a real estate company owned by Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, was tapped by the city to spearhead a mixed-use development on a 62-acre site next to the stadium.  [more]

From left: soon-to-be developed area near Citi Field and Citi Field

A development site with “extremely permissive zoning” has hit the market in the Willets Point area of Queens, listing broker David Schechtman of Eastern Consolidated confirmed to The Real Deal today. The site, which boasts about 350,000 buildable square feet and is just down the road from Citi Field, is asking $21 million, according to documents obtained by TRD. [more]

David Schechtman and 310 East 55th Street

The 3.6-acre waterfront plot near Citi Field in Queens that was reported to be in default by The Real Deal  is guaranteed by 75 co-op units in Midtown Manhattan.

According to the New York Daily News, lender U.S. Bank is seeking the highest bid for the mortgage it provided to Abs Flushing Development for the site, at 39-08 Janet Place. The new owner will also take control of the co-ops at 310 East 55th Street. [more]

Two years have passed since the opening of new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets, but local businesses around the areas are still struggling.
In the Bronx, retailers near Yankee Stadium are looking for a pick up in the economy to boost sales. “I was very excited in the beginning when the new stadium opened and thought it was going to be better for us, but it was not,” said Mike Hong, owner of D&J Variety Store on 161st Street near the stadium.
In reality, the new stadium included more bars, restaurants and shops selling Yankees merchandise and memorabilia to compete with local merchants, a Metro-North commuter train stop and more parking spots that diverted foot traffic…. [more]

Willets Point landowners will take legal action against the city for beginning construction on traffic ramps meant to ease congestion expected with the redevelopment of the area near Citi Field, according to the Daily News. Some property owners have been at odds with the city over the space for more than a year. This time, the landowners believe the city reneged on a promise to begin construction on the Van Wyck Expressway ramps only after obtaining permission from the Federal Highway Administration and the Department of Transportation…. [more]

The Donald is pitching the embattled Wilpon family on a bailout for their New York Mets, he told the New York Times today. Trump, who has a habit of making public plays to take over struggling New York City institutions (see: Tavern on the Green, Lasker and Wollman rinks), told the paper that he called friend and fellow developer Fred Wilpon a couple of weeks ago to set up a meeting to discuss the possibility of buying the team. Wilpon, who is the team’s principal owner, said last month that he was seeking a buyer for up to a quarter of the club after being sued by the trustee in the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy case for as much as $1 billion. The Wilpon-Trump meeting hasn’t happened yet, but Trump said he won’t settle for anything less than majority ownership. … [more]

Time is running out for the holdouts in Queens’ Willets Point, where the city is planning to make its first move towards seizing a 20-acre swath of land through eminent domain next week. According to the Wall Street Journal, the parcel represents the first phase of the 62-acre development project, for which the city will begin soliciting bids from developers in April. Among the developers who have previously expressed interest in the project are the Related Companies, Muss Development and the Wilpon Family’s Sterling Equities. … [more]

For months, state officials have been privately questioning the safety, design and impact of highway ramps crucial to the $3 billion development of Willets Point in Queens, according to hundreds of e-mails that an opponent of the project fed to the New York Times. The state officials who have expressed concern are some of the same officials whose approval is needed for the project to move forward. “Unless the preparers of this report start accepting the idea that it is seriously flawed, we are going nowhere,” wrote Michael Bergman, a structural engineer for the state’s Department of Transportation Dec. 28, while reviewing the city’s application. The Bloomberg Administration has pushed hard for Willets Point, which would eventually have 5,500 apartments, office buildings, retail stores and a hotel in place of the auto repair shops, factories and junkyards in the area. The ramps in question are supposed to connect Willets Point to the Van Wyck Expressway, but officials have repeatedly been frustrated by the city’s inaccurate information and on the pressure it was placing on the state to finish its analysis quickly. Peter King, a state project manager, wrote to a colleague in January in response to a typo that stated the development’s expected completion date was 2107 instead of 2017: “Perhaps that reference to 2107 may have been closer to the truth than anyone realizes.” [NYT]

… [more]

For months, state officials have been privately questioning the safety, design and impact of highway ramps crucial to the $3 billion development of Willets Point in Queens, according to hundreds of e-mails that an opponent of the project fed to the New York Times. The state officials who have expressed concern are some of the same officials whose approval is needed for the project to move forward. “Unless the preparers of this report start accepting the idea that it is seriously flawed, we are going nowhere,” wrote Michael Bergman, a structural engineer for the state’s Department of Transportation Dec. 28, while reviewing the city’s application. The Bloomberg Administration has pushed hard for Willets Point, which would eventually have 5,500 apartments, office buildings, retail stores and a hotel in place of the auto repair shops, factories and junkyards in the area. The ramps in question are supposed to connect Willets Point to the Van Wyck Expressway, but officials have repeatedly been frustrated by the city’s inaccurate information and on the pressure it was placing on the state to finish its analysis quickly. Peter King, a state project manager, wrote to a colleague in January in response to a typo that stated the development’s expected completion date was 2107 instead of 2017: “Perhaps that reference to 2107 may have been closer to the truth than anyone realizes.” [NYT]

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Could the New York Islanders be coming to Queens? According to NY1, Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ CEO, is in talks with the hockey team’s owner, Charles Wang, to build an arena for the Islanders near the new Citi Field in Willets Point. Wilpon, who said he would consider buying the money-losing Islanders, has also spoken with Major League Soccer about bringing a team to the area, though he’d have to choose one or the other: there isn’t enough room for both a soccer stadium and a hockey arena at the site. [NY1]