From Los Angeles, to Brooklyn, to New London, CT, cities await the public benefits touted by developers of mega-projects. Yet the last few years have seen many of these promises go unmet. Eliot Brown, of The Wall Street Journal delves into the details regarding the soon-to-open Barclay's Arena in Brooklyn, part of the greater Atlantic Yards development, where supposed "benefits were crucial to tempering a vocal community opposition when the project was approved in 2006."
"As one of the largest mixed-use projects under way in the country, Atlantic Yards was meant to transform a swath of Brooklyn," states Brown. "But the missing pieces of the project highlight the challenges many U.S. cities face with large-scale real-estate developments that have become stalled amid a slow economic recovery, leaving them without taxes, jobs and amenities once pledged to the public."
Promises made by Atlantic Yards' New York-based developer, Bruce Ratner, included low-to-middle income apartments and a community health-care center, among others, which have yet to materialize. Public officials and communities, alike, are calling for greater accountability of developers to ensure promises to the community are fulfilled.
