Reality is starting to set in for the final holdouts of the embattled Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.
A state judge ruled today that the state can seize property from 12 private landowners who refused to sell to developer Bruce Ratner, so he can move forward with his long-delayed, $4.9 billion plan to build an NBA arena, housing and office towers in Prospect Heights.
Ratner, who received state approval for Atlantic Yards in Dec. 2006, is now finally planning a ceremonial arena groundbreaking — March 11 — so his New Jersey Nets can move there by 2012. However, the timetable for the project’s 16 skyscrapers remains unclear because of the national credit crunch.
“I woke up this morning owning my home but by the afternoon I was told the state now owns it,” said Daniel Goldstein, a holdout who became the public face of an opposition group that nearly killed the project by using the legal system to hold up construction.
Goldstein said his group isn’t giving up yet – they can still appeal the judge’s ruling and a few outstanding lawsuits could potentially halt development – but conceded he and his family must finally begin looking for a new place to live. Goldstein moved into the condo in 2003; months later Ratner announced his plans for Atlantic Yards.
Goldstein intends to stay in Brooklyn, but like other holdouts, he won’t have nearly as much money to find a new home as he could have had if he sold to Ratner years ago.
The state has determined Goldstein’s condo is worth $510,000 – or $395 per square foot. He said when the other 29 condo owners in his building were bought out six years ago, Ratner shelled out about $850 a square foot – which would translate into $1.1 million for Goldstein’s 1,290-square-foot apartment.
While the Empire State Development Corp. said in a statement it is “looking forward to moving ahead” with the project and anticipates helping relocate the remaining holdouts over the next few months, Goldstein expects to remain at his home at least through the summer. He said he’s planning to sue over what he believes is a low-ball offer from the state and will force the state to file legal papers to evict him from his home.
He said he does not regret fighting the state’s eminent domain laws.
Meanwhile, patrons of Freddy’s Bar on Dean Street have threatened to handcuff themselves inside the watering hole, if needed, to halt demolition.
Bruce Bender, an executive vice president at Forest City Ratner, said the “ruling is a major milestone that signifies Atlantic Yards is progressing, that construction will accelerate and that long-awaited benefits will begin to materialize in Brooklyn.”
The judge’s ruling also allows various street closures around the arena footprint to begin March 8.