LCOR Seeks to Join Pacific Park

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The new team that could finish thousands of units of housing at the long-stalled Pacific Park is starting to take shape.

Empire State Development on Thursday confirmed that LCOR is part of the team that has applied to take over the remaining sites at the Brooklyn megadevelopment. The firm joins Cirrus Real Estate, which announced in January that it planned to co-develop the six remaining development sites. At the time, Cirrus indicated that it expected other developers to be brought on.

The state agency also clarified that penalties that were supposed to kick in for the current developer, Greenland USA, after this month are being delayed and tied to new goals. In order to avoid these penalties, developers must hit specified milestones such as securing ESD approval of new developers by August and, by the end of the year, having a “feasible” project framework and new timeline for taking the project through public review.

The developers must also reach an agreement with the MTA related to air rights over the rail yard. Greenland was reportedly on the hook for annual payments of $11 million, as part of a plan to eventually build a platform over the rails — where the remaining six towers were planned to be built. The status of that agreement, and what form it would take with the new development team, was not immediately clear.

A representative for the MTA did not immediately return a request for more information.

ESD said the development team must present a “robust community plan,” and sign a memorandum of understanding committing the developers to a timeline for taking the project through public review.

LCOR and Cirrus are the latest developers to try and take on the massive project, first dubbed Atlantic Yards, and, if approved by the state, will have to deal with the baggage associated with past failures and delays. In 2014, before transferring development rights to Greenland, Forest City reached a settlement with the city and community groups to complete the project’s 2,250 affordable apartments by May 2025. Failing to meet that deadline would mean fines of $2,000 per incomplete unit per month.

It has been clear for some time that Greenland was not going to meet that deadline. Of those units, the developer still needs to build 876. Doing so requires first building a platform over active train tracks between Pacific Street and Atlantic, Carlton and Vanderbilt avenues. Greenland has previously estimated that constructing the first portion of the platform could take 36 to 40 months.

In 2022, Greenland defaulted on $350 million worth of loans from USIF, tied to the six development sites. USIF repeatedly set and then rescheduled foreclosure auctions for the development rights, and potential developers surfaced only to back out.

“We have known for a very long time that there was no way that the developer was going to be able to perform,” Brooklyn Assembly member Jo Anne Simon said.

That knowledge coincided with a fear that ESD would not enforce the fines, she said. She noted that while the agency is not saying that it will never collect the penalties, it shouldn’t have the ability to bargain away the terms of the 2014 agreement.

“We’re extremely frustrated, bordering on furious that this has occurred, that ESD is acting in this unilateral way,” she said.

“The project was always fantastic,” Simon said. “A lot of empty promises, a lot of wish lists.”

Michelle de la Uz, executive director of Fifth Avenue Committee (a member of Brooklyn Speaks, which was party to the 2014 agreement), said money from the fines could be going to affordable housing projects that are waiting for city subsidies to become available.

“We want to see something happen here, but people should be held accountable,” she said.

Cirrus Real Estate announced in January that it had signed a letter of intent to co-develop and lead capitalization of Pacific Park. A spokesperson for Cirrus confirmed Thursday that the firm is still part of the development team being considered. The substack “Learning from Atlantic Yards and Pacific Park” was first to report LCOR’s involvement.

Representatives for LCOR, Greenland and USIF did not return requests seeking comment. It is unclear if Greenland will remain involved in the project in some capacity.
LCOR oversees a portfolio of 10,000 multifamily units and 2.4 million square feet of commercial space, and has more than 1,500 units under construction, according to the firm’s website. The company is developing a 633-unit rental building in Jersey City, N.J., and a 300-plus unit rental building in New Rochelle, N.Y. It recently completed a 463-unit building at 1515 Surf Avenue in Coney Island.