Where Will A New Stadium Be Located?

[Gotham Gator]

We had an earlier thread asking where people wanted our shiny new soccer specific stadium to be located.

This thread is asking for you to predict where a new stadium will be located. Make your best guess.

 

[sbrylski]

Unfortunately, I think the GAL site is really off the table. Maybe this is just part of the negotiation process, but I'm not hopeful.

I predict the eventual site will be announced at the end of the 2016 season, and there will be some very negative aspect of it that we all have to swallow.

My best case hope is Broadway Junction. More likely, it'll be upper Bronx, Columbia, Aqueduct, or some other too far away site yet in the city.

 

[mgarbowski]

I have to think that if the Yankee Stadium neighborhood GAL site were going to happen they could have done the deal by now and we'd have had an announcement. ALso agree that almost every other potential site is less optimal and some of us are going to have to deal iwth it, or drop off the STH list.

 

[Vallos]

The GAL site is contingent on their relocation, which CFG/Yankees will be financially responsible for. I think this site is still in play, as GAL are on record stating they will relocate. If price is not the reason for approval hasn't been given, then I believe it is GAL finding a suitable area to relocate.

 

[mgarbowski]

The GAL site is contingent on their relocation, which CFG/Yankees will be financially responsible for. I think this site is still in play, as GAL are on record stating they will relocate. If price is not the reason for approval hasn't been given, then I believe it is GAL finding a suitable area to relocate.

Let's hope then.

 

[sbrylski]

The GAL site is contingent on their relocation, which CFG/Yankees will be financially responsible for. I think this site is still in play, as GAL are on record stating they will relocate. If price is not the reason for approval hasn't been given, then I believe it is GAL finding a suitable area to relocate.

CFG had an option to purchase from GAL that expired. We are also actively looking at other sites. There is absolutely no indication that either side is working on this location anymore. In fact, I'm pretty sure the GAL owner was quoted to have not heard from CFG in a couple months, although that would have been a quote from this spring.

 

[Vallos]

Indeed they are actively looking at other sites. It is the logical thing to do. But looking at other sites is not indicative of a diminished desire to secure a favorite spot. The two parties could well be in negotiations, and the search in other locations could be viewed as a means to lower the demands from GAL. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[sbrylski]

Indeed they are actively looking at other sites. It is the logical thing to do. But looking at other sites is not indicative of a diminished desire to secure a favorite spot. The two parties could well be in negotiations, and the search in other locations could be viewed as a means to lower the demands from GAL. We'll just have to wait and see.

To be honest, I don't even know where the rumor that GAL is asking too much ever came from. The guy was playing ball, he was in negotiations, and he granted NYCFC an option to buy his property. Second, any and every quote on the matter from the team indicated they couldn't get a deal done with the government regarding this site.

This is an older article, but the first one that came up on my search, and explains exactly what I'm talking about:

"I really don’t know what the heck is happening,” said Seifried, a vice president at GAL Manufacturing Corp, the elevator parts company standing on the site proposed for New York City Football Club, a joint venture of Manchester City Football Club owner Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan and the New York Yankees. “The ball is absolutely in their court.”

"I’m happy to tell you [the football club] approached us and we talked for a while,” he went on. “Their interest was in this particular site.”

He said he last spoke with the club about a month ago, at which point they told him they were no longer interested in negotiating.

Asked if he thought the plan for that site was dead, he said, “It appears that way.”

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/artic...s-over-soccer-site-stall-city-looks-elsewhere

This guy was not the problem. We walked out on him, because we didn't get a deal done with Bloomberg and de Blasio pulled the rest of the rug out of the deal.

Sounds like the cost of relocating the factory, plus buying out the debt on the parking garages, was just too much secondary cost for this site and the government wasn't really to recoup any of that through tax breaks and whatnot, which we aren't going to get.

We are the problem.

 

[Vallos]

Perhaps my choice of words has failed me. I wholeheartedly believe that GAL is not the guilty party in this. In fact, GAL should get everything they ask for. They are a wonderful Bronx success story and they should be treated as such. When I said "lower the demands", I was speaking from the perspective of the multi-billion conglomerate that is the CFG/Yankees. Those with the most money, usually gives out the least.

 

[Gotham Gator]

For what it's worth, here is what the recent NY Times article said about the GAL site.

So the soccer league and the club were off to the Bronx, just south of Yankee Stadium. They obtained an option to buy a factory, where they planned to build a stadium. The factory, in turn, would be moved to a new building. But the option expired before the team could craft a deal with Mayor Bill de Blasio, Mr. Bloomberg’s successor.​

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/29/s...is-considering-columbia-athletic-complex.html

That seems to suggest that GAL was on board and that some kind of required city approvals and/or requested subsidies were not forthcoming. I still think the team will end up at this site. It just makes too much sense. It's the only one with parking, mass transit, and minimal NIMBY problems.

 

[einwindir]

I voted for Columbia. Of all the rumors this one seems to make the most sense. If I could plop the stadium anywhere I'd choose Flushing Meadows or College Point though. Plenty of open space, many transportation options and most importantly! it's within walking distance from where I live.

 

[Gavin23]

To be honest, I don't even know where the rumor that GAL is asking too much ever came from. The guy was playing ball, he was in negotiations, and he granted NYCFC an option to buy his property. Second, any and every quote on the matter from the team indicated they couldn't get a deal done with the government regarding this site.

This is an older article, but the first one that came up on my search, and explains exactly what I'm talking about:



This guy was not the problem. We walked out on him, because we didn't get a deal done with Bloomberg and de Blasio pulled the rest of the rug out of the deal.

Sounds like the cost of relocating the factory, plus buying out the debt on the parking garages, was just too much secondary cost for this site and the government wasn't really to recoup any of that through tax breaks and whatnot, which we aren't going to get.

We are the problem.

No the corrupt NYC government is the problem. They wanted a cut. NYCFC and GAL reached a mutual agreement...until DeBlasio and his goons got involved.

 

[danger]

No the corrupt NYC government is the problem. They wanted a cut. NYCFC and GAL reached a mutual agreement...until DeBlasio and his goons got involved.

Source? Just because you have posted it multiple times on the forum does not make it true.

The Bronx site would have containing 1) a portion of 153rd Street, 2) three of Yankee Stadium’s publicly subsidized, financially depleted parking lots, and 3) the building controlled by the elevator parts company, GAL.

Capital New York reported in Sept 2014 (based on a "source close to the negotiations") that

the Bronx plan “fell through the cracks,” after developers could not reach a deal with the building tenant, which currently occupies the site the partners had hoped to develop. “The tenant is in one of the old buildings in the area that they needed to vacate, they had agreed on a price, then he changed his mind and the deal fell through,” the source said.
​

All other reporting that I have seen seems to be sourced to Capital reporting and as it was Capital who leaked the confidential details initially, I trust that they really do have a source close to do the deal.

Curiously, the Sept 2014 Capital piece does not specify which building tenant. So take your pick: either GAL changed their mind (although they sounded genuinely interested) or the Bronx Parking Development Company, which runs the lots and who in Apr 2013 defaulted on a $237 million civic bond, changed their mind. Do you pick GAL, the company that seemed genuinely interested, if the quotes from their VP are any indication? Or do you pick the parking lot company that would receive an "unspecified sum" and whose spokesman said when the details of the deal were leaked in Dec 2013 that “It's never a good idea to be discussing negotiations until they are done."

Or, for some unknown reason, do you continue to blame De Blasio

 

[Gavin23]

Source? Just because you have posted it multiple times on the forum does not make it true.

The Bronx site would have containing 1) a portion of 153rd Street, 2) three of Yankee Stadium’s publicly subsidized, financially depleted parking lots, and 3) the building controlled by the elevator parts company, GAL.

Capital New York reported in Sept 2014 (based on a "source close to the negotiations") that

the Bronx plan “fell through the cracks,” after developers could not reach a deal with the building tenant, which currently occupies the site the partners had hoped to develop. “The tenant is in one of the old buildings in the area that they needed to vacate, they had agreed on a price, then he changed his mind and the deal fell through,” the source said.
​

All other reporting that I have seen seems to be sourced to Capital reporting and as it was Capital who leaked the confidential details initially, I trust that they really do have a source close to do the deal.

Curiously, the Sept 2014 Capital piece does not specify which building tenant. So take your pick: either GAL changed their mind (although they sounded genuinely interested) or the Bronx Parking Development Company, which runs the lots and who in Apr 2013 defaulted on a $237 million civic bond, changed their mind. Do you pick GAL, the company that seemed genuinely interested, if the quotes from their VP are any indication? Or do you pick the parking lot company that would receive an "unspecified sum" and whose spokesman said when the details of the deal were leaked in Dec 2013 that “It's never a good idea to be discussing negotiations until they are done."

Or, for some unknown reason, do you continue to blame De Blasio

This was my first post on the topic so I have no idea what the hell your talking about.. As if I have some long history on these forums posting about this subject ......(hint* I dont)

Moving on, If you somehow think the City Government wasnt in any way responsible for this lack of progress your delusional. Forget this stadium, any sort of development in this city is stiffed by a bunch of elected crooks who want their "fair share" in other words a kickback. Its how things are done behind closed doors and not something out in the open. Something thats been happening for generations.

You seemed to have answered your own pointless question. It was neither. GAL were genuinenly interested by most reports and if they really raised their asking price it could easily of been renegotiated in either party's favor. Why hasnt it been with the figures and stakes involved? Why did it end suddenly? Why is it timed coincidentally with the new Mayor? It was once again the DeBlasio administration. Nothing this big would of got by without every schmuck taking a piece along the way. Thats the bureaucracy and political machine at work.

And further why would a financially insolvent Parking Lot Firm bail on such a deal? This would be their once in a lifetime golden ticket to bail out on their debts. It seems to me they were part of the plan to stall this project by being coerced due to the fact that they are publicly subsidized/financed and in dire financial straits.

 

[danger]

Show me a source that reports it was stalled by city government.

Like I said before, I'm not interested in your (or others) pointless speculation

 

[Albany_NYCFC]

..

 

[Albany_NYCFC]

Show me a source that reports it was stalled by city government.

Like I said before, I'm not interested in your (or others) pointless speculation

Ummmmm... since nobody on this forum (that I know of ) is directly involved in these negotiations... it's kinda what we do..

 

[Gavin23]

Show me a source that reports it was stalled by city government.

Like I said before, I'm not interested in your (or others) pointless speculation

Your post was speculation and leading questions.

Obviously a city shakedown isnt something they publicize...or something I would be privy too. My stab at what happened seems to be the only thing that makes sense (especially when compared to yours). You basically proved it by wondering why a publicly financed parking lot company that is in the red would turn down a seemingly miracle offer last minute...and strengthening my point that GAL were supportive of the deal until the Mayor's office swapped admins.

 

[danger]

My post was based on the reported information. There's no guarantee it's accurate, but it's a defensible position. You haven't sourced to a single article. If Capital's reporters had written anything like what you'd said, maybe I would think otherwise. They certainly have no problem skewering NYC or Albany officials when they have the info to do it.

Neither Capital (nor any other source I ever came across) said there was a "miracle" deal. It was an undisclosed sum. If it was insufficient to cover the necessary deal the Bronx Parking Development Company would have to reach with bondholders, then they may have pushed for more cash resulting in the stalemate. Look at the info posted on the IBO blog and the reports (here and here, for example) about how serious the bondholders are going after BPDC. That's where you will find your closed door deal

 

[FredMertz]

GAL were genuinenly interested by most reports and if they really raised their asking price it could easily of been renegotiated in either party's favor.

The parking lot company had no deal to take once GAL backed out. Not everything is a crazy conspiracy.

As far as the quote above, what does that mean? You have one side that's looking for a mega payday and another side who is probably not interested in being pushed around by some schmuck who owns an elevator company, and truthfully, has more things to worry about than getting a stadium built.