Yankee Stadium garage
The Yankee Stadium parking garage that has flirted with default for the last 18 months now owes the city $25 million in back rent and taxes, according to a New York Daily News columnist who calls the garage “one of the biggest failures in decades of bonds issued by a New York City Agency.”
In 2005, the Bloomberg administration acquiesced to the Yankees’ demand for a 9,000-space garage and arranged $237 million in tax-exempt bonds for the 21-acre facility. [more]
Earlier this week, the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp requested proposals for a full-service hotel near Yankee Stadium, but according to the Wall Street Journal, that’s a dicey proposition.
Lending is already tight in the current market. But considering the risk of building a full-service, amenity-rich hotel in the Bronx, financing may be next to impossible to obtain for such a project.
Though new hotels have been sprouting in Brooklyn and Queens, the Bronx is different. Comments
The Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp. today has asked developers for proposals to build a hotel and conference center on the site of one of Yankee Stadium’s parking garages, NBC New York reported. The site is at River Avenue and 153rd Street, bordering the park where the old Yankee Stadium stood. The plan would involve condominiums, shops and a high-end penthouse restaurant. Borough President Ruben Diaz said developers and hotel operators have expressed interest in such a hotel for years. [more]
A Long Island-based concrete-testing lab responsible for ensuring the safety of several high-profile projects across the city is being charged with falsely reporting test results, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The firm, American Standard Testing and Consulting Lab, as well as six employees were indicted today, including Alan Fortich, the company’s president. American Standard Testing was charged with faking results of concrete strength and quality tests at the new Yankee Stadium, the Second Avenue Subway, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a LaGuardia Airport control tower, among several other projects. Comments
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]
As the Yankees begin their 2011 season today at Yankee Stadium, the community surrounding the ballpark continues to wonder when the city will fulfill its promise to replace the nearby ballfields it tore down to make room for the $1.5 billion behemoth in 2009, according to the New York Times. State law required the city to replace the 22 acres of parks cleared during stadium construction, and most acres have been replaced in parks throughout the city, but the highlight of the project was supposed to be $51 million Heritage Field across the street from the new stadium. But little progress has been made, and neighbors are frustrated, particularly those affiliated with school baseball teams dependent on those fields. [more]
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz is pushing for a luxe new hotel atop one of Yankee Stadium’s new cash-strapped parking garages that would help the developers repay investors and draw additional tourists to the area, according to the Daily News. The three, underused garages, built with the help of $70 million from the Empire State Development Corp. and $237 million in bonds issued by the city’s Economic Development Corp., haven’t been generating enough revenue on game days to cover bond payments. Last September, Bronx Parking Development had to raise rates and dip into its reserve fund to make a $6.9 million payment, and now, another April 1 payment is looming. [more]
The owner of the parking garages for the new Yankee Stadium is expected to default on a $6.8 million interest payment come April 1, which could result in a seizure by bondholders, Crain’s reported. The city’s Industrial Development Agency issued $237 million in tax-exempt construction bonds to the owner, Bronx Parking Development, in 2007, but revenues have been far lower than expected since the stadium opened as fans have sought cheaper parking elsewhere or opted to take the train to games. Last year, the company said the 9,000-space facilities have been, at most, 60 percent occupied on game days, leaving it without enough cash to service the bonds. [more]
Heritage Field, the 11-acre ballfields project on the site of the demolished former Yankee Stadium, officially broke ground yesterday as Borough President Ruben Diaz, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, president Randy Levine and pitcher Joba Chamberlain looked on. Heritage Field, which will pay tribute to the old stadium with commemorative details and is slated for completion in 2011, is intended to replace the park space taken away when the Yankees built their new stadium. The project includes three baseball fields, bleachers and track-and-field space, but it has been plagued by delays and dogged by critics who say the plans don’t measure up to what the community lost when the new Yankee Stadium gobbled up five fields’ worth of park space. The city has also opened a skateboard park, a track and several smaller parks surrounding the new stadium over the past year. [NYDN]
Heritage Field, the 11-acre ballfields project on the site of the demolished former Yankee Stadium, officially broke ground yesterday as Borough President Ruben Diaz, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, president Randy Levine and pitcher Joba Chamberlain looked on. Heritage Field, which will pay tribute to the old stadium with commemorative details and is slated for completion in 2011, is intended to replace the park space taken away when the Yankees built their new stadium. The project includes three baseball fields, bleachers and track-and-field space, but it has been plagued by delays and dogged by critics who say the plans don’t measure up to what the community lost when the new Yankee Stadium gobbled up five fields’ worth of park space. The city has also opened a skateboard park, a track and several smaller parks surrounding the new stadium over the past year. [NYDN]
