Metro

City buys 7 acres in Coney Island for $95M, ending 4-year standoff

A Brooklyn developer and the Bloomberg administration have ended their longtime game of chicken over the future of Coney Island by agreeing to a $95.6 million deal that will get the city nearly seven acres of prime boardwalk property to build a spectacular new amusement district, sources said today.

BROOKLYN BLOG: Sitt sharing his ‘sandbpx’ with City — for $95M

The city’s deal with developer Joe Sitt ends a four-year standoff in which both sides boasted about having a better vision for restoring Coney Island to its fabled glory days.

Both sides are expected to announce the deal at a City Hall press conference tomorrow, along with the city’s plans to begin soliciting proposals from developers interested in building a new 9.39-acre outdoor amusement park.

The city is expected to select an amusement operator within a month, and a city official said that company would provide interim attractions far superior to what Sitt has offered since he began acquiring and clearing out boardwalk land in 2005.

“For the first time in a long time, there will be certainty in Coney Island,” the official said.

However, the reality of completing the park and the rest of Mayor Bloomberg’s vision for a new, 27-acre Coney Island amusement and entertainment district is still far off as officials could not speculate when any of it would be completed. Today, much of the district is vacant – including the Astroland amusement park site Sitt bought and cleared away. All that remains is the landmarked Cyclone roller coaster and Wonder Wheel and a few other rides and attractions.

Neither side would comment in advance of the press conference.

The city earlier this year made a $105 million offer for 10.5 acres of Sitt’s land, slightly above the $92 million Sitt spent gobbling up the seaside property. But Sitt claimed expenses associated with planned redevelopment have put his costs for Coney Island at $150 million. Last year he asked the city for $165 million.

Although Sitt got much less, the $95.6 million for 6.9 acres equals more than $300 a square foot — a nice price in the current market.

And Sitt gets his wish to be part of the Coney Island redevelopment plans as he’s expected to build retail and high-rise hotels on his remaining land, which is not directly along the boardwalk.

Some longtime boardwalk business owners said the deal was a step in the right direction but doesn’t set aside enough room for rides.

“I was hoping they’d buy all his land. In the end he got a lot of money and he still gets to build a lot of what he wants,” said activist Dianna Carlin, who operates a roller rink on the boardwalk but was booted last year from her Lola Staar Souvenir Boutique boardwalk shop after she clashed with the developer.

Sitt had hoped to build a Vegas-glitz entertainment center on his property that included new rides, attractions and either high-rise condos or time-share hotels near the beach. But he butted heads with city officials, who refused to grant the zoning to allow him to go forward with building the housing or time shares.

In 2007, Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber called Sitt’s plan as a “wolf dressed up as a sheep,” and earlier this year Sitt told the Post, “I’m the guy who controls this — it’s my sandbox.”

As a first step to recruit potential developers interested in making Coney Island a year-round destination, the administration next week will send some representatives to the annual convention of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions in Las Vegas.

The new district is part of a 47-acre rezoning plan that is also expected to generate 4,500 units of housing, and 35 percent will be affordable.