A rendering of the East Side Access concourse
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is currently considering an option to outsource both the management and operations of the East Side Access concourse and has paid a consulting firm $600,000 to see if the plan is possible, Crain’s reported. The agency will also issue a request for proposals next month to have private companies manage the Fulton Street Transit Center in Lower Manhattan. [more]
The former building at 194 Broadway (credit: PropertyShark) and a rendering of the Fulton Street Transit Center
Not only did the Metropolitan Transportation Authority undervalue a Lower Manhattan building it demolished to make room for the Fulton Street Transit Center, but a State Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the agency owes the tenants of the building damages for fixtures it lost in the condemnation. [more]
A rendering of the Fulton Street Transit Center
Work on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s four major New York City projects hasn’t slowed down, despite major budget deficits in 2011, GlobeStreet.com reported. The 7 subway line extension, the Fulton Street Transit Center, the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Long Island Rail Road access are all on schedule for their planned completion dates, according to the MTA. Work on the Lower Manhattan Fulton Street Transit Center is more than 50 percent complete, with all the structural work on the mezzanine level for the A and C trains now finished, GlobeStreet.com said. [more]
A New York state court upheld a 2009 ruling late yesterday against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, saying that the agency undervalued a property at 194 Broadway, Crain’s reported. The MTA took over the property from DLR Properties, an affiliate of the Riese Organization, through eminent domain and demolished it to make room for the new Fulton Street Transit Center.
The MTA valued the building, between Fulton and John streets, at $27.4 million, while DLR valued it at around $60 million, Crain’s said.
The court ordered the MTA to pay DLR $35.2 million for undervaluing the building, Rosenberg & Estis, the law firm representing DLR, announced.
“The law provides that a property owner is entitled to receive just compensation when its property is taken in condemnation proceedings,” said Warren Estis, of Rosenberg & Estis, in a statement. [more]
From the January issue: Development in Lower Manhattan, perhaps more than anywhere else in the
city, is characterized by big ideas. The biggest and most obvious
developments are related to Ground Zero, a site that at present is more
notable for its building delays than its progress. Still, prominent
World Trade Center-related projects, including the September 11th
Memorial, are expected to be finished within the next few years. Beyond the World Trade Center, big Lower Manhattan projects
underway include the construction of the tallest residential tower in
the city and work on the East River Waterfront. Other developments,
such as towers near the Battery Tunnel and the redevelopment of the
South Street Seaport, have fallen victim to the down market. Here are some of the plans floating around that, if brought to fruition, would fundamentally alter Lower Manhattan.
The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that the MTA must pay the Riese Organization’s legal fees after an eminent domain suit on 194 Broadway was settled. Meanwhile, closings began at the 254 Park Avenue South condo, the former editor of the Architect’s Newspaper was named head of the Institute for Urban Design, and BLT restaurants was named the official restaurant operator for the W New York — Downtown. Click here for more. TRD [more]
The last remaining legal hurdle Atlantic Yards faces is a Court of Appeals hearing later this month on the project’s proposed use of eminent domain. If the court finds in favor of the defendant, the Empire State Development Corporation, the properties of several renters and owners are likely to be seized to make way for the development. Renters, owners and businesses in buildings such as 479 Dean Street, 485 Dean Street, and 636 Pacific Street in the Prospect Heights area of Brooklyn will face condemnation proceedings under eminent domain. A second phase of condemnation would include buildings like 491 Dean Street. If that happens, a firm called the Cornerstone Group will spearhead relocation efforts on behalf of a legal team the ESDC has contracted with. As The Real Deal examined in a story a few months ago, the city and state often use the Cornerstone Group in projects involving eminent domain, but the efficacy of the firm in helping residents and businesses find new places to live or work has often been questioned. A contract obtained by The Real Deal via a Freedom of Information Law request from the Empire State Development Corporation lays bear how much money Cornerstone is poised to make as the relocation point team on Atlantic Yards, as well as exactly how the firm is contractually obligated to help residents and businesses that need to be relocated. [more]
After a seven-day trial, the New York State Supreme Court has ruled
that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority must pay the Riese
Organization $35.2 million for 194 Broadway, a property that the MTA
took through eminent domain for the development of the Fulton Street
Transit Center. The MTA had valued the property for less, according to
a press release from Rosenberg & Estis, the law firm representing
the Riese Organization. The MTA also has to pay $106.5 million total
for 204-210 Broadway, 198 Broadway and 192 Broadway, all owned by the
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York, and 200
Broadway, owned by Brookfield Properties. The MTA acquired all of these
properties for the Fulton Street Transit Center in 2006. TRD [more]
Construction on the $1.4 billion Fulton Street Transit Center project
has hurt local businesses in the Lower Manhattan area. Construction on
the center, which is expected to be completed by 2014, is five years
behind schedule. The city is currently in the process of replacing the
150-year-old infrastructure along Fulton Street, a project which has
closed the street to vehicular traffic and forced 35 of the 200
storefronts along Fulton and Nassau streets out of their spaces. The
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is offering a maximum of
$25,000 in grants to the affected small businesses, an amount many
store owners are saying is not large enough. Work on the infrastructure
project was originally planned to conclude by this summer. Now, the
city says work on the Fulton Street infrastructure will be over by
year’s end, barring unforeseen delays. [more]
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said that it would complete construction of the long-delayed
Fulton Street Transit Center in 2014, seven years behind the project’s
originally scheduled date. The MTA plans to spend $424 million in federal
stimulus money to plug a hole in the project’s budget, and when it’s
finished, the project will cost about $1.4 billion, nearly twice the
original estimate. Michael Horodniceanu, president of capital
construction for the MTA, vowed to stick to the
new budget and schedule. Parts
of the center will open before the building is done, and most of the
improvements to the subway, including easier connections between lines,
will be finished by 2012, Horodniceanu said.
