Atlantic Yards Developer Not Done Booting People From Homes

Last September, the Empire State Development Corporation filed an eminent domain petition to seize seven remaining properties for the Atlantic Yards, now called Pacific Park, megaproject, and at the time, not much was said about what, or who, those properties held. Three of the seven are residential townhouses on Dean Street (nos. 495, 493, and 491), with a few families still living there. The families are currently battling with Greenland Forest City over buyouts and when they have to leave. Atlantic Yards Report (via Brownstoner) attended a hearing about the issue, and reports that the families are being offered $1.5 million. Anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge about Brooklyn real estate knows that this is not nearly enough to buy a comparable home in Prospect Heights—even the ESD knows this, as they are showing the families houses in Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy. Also, let's not forget that the developer paid Daniel Goldstein $3 million to leave his condo that was in the arena's footprint.

The ESD aims to have control of the properties by the end of the month, which means that the remaining families will be evicted if a deal can not be reached. The buildings will be replaced by the 330-unit tower B15. The tower will have a school in its base, and for the school to open by 2018, the ESD needs to completely control the site by the end of February.

The other four properties are located on Sixth Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, and include a vacant lot, a storage facility, a commercial building, and an industrial building. The buildings on the block bound by Flatbush Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue, and Pacific Street are the only remaining buildings in the development's footprint that have yet to be condemned. Current occupants include Modell's and P.C. Richards. This is Site 5 on the map above, and it will eventually hold a 250-foot tower.

UPDATE: This story previously stated that Site 5 was part of the ongoing eminent domain proceedings, but that is incorrect. The buildings on Site 5 have yet to be condemned.
· Nearly all condemnees in project footprint have left; state moves toward residential eviction; evidence suggests low-ball home valuation [AYR]
· State to Evict Holdouts in Seven Properties in Atlantic Yards Footprint ['Stoner]
· State Plans to Seize Seven Properties for Atlantic Yards [Curbed]
· All Atlantic Yards coverage [Curbed]