Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Bloomberg's Yankee Follies Continue: Parking Garages Two Years Behind on Rent

Metal Fabric Parking Garage Facade

No Surprise. For years critics of the Yankee Stadium redevelopment project have predicted the city's tax-payers would be on the hook for the parking garages in the deal negotiated by the Bloomberg administration. Compounding the problem, the administration gave the Yankee organization 600 free spots in the VIP garage (above). The Yankees Win. The Yankees Win.

Bronx

The private developer chosen by the Bloomberg administration to run the new $340 million Yankee Stadium parking system is two years behind on its city rent, according to the New York Daily News.

As of this month, Bronx Parking Development LLC owes the city $8.7 million in back rent and interest. That tab will soon grow to more than $10million because city officials have allowed the firm to defer the rest of this year's rent as well.

Meanwhile, Bronx Parking, which has no connection to the Yankees, has yet to pay a nickel in property taxes.

When the city and state originally unveiled plans in 2005 for a new Yankee Stadium, they also agreed to increase the number of stadium parking spaces to 9,000 - a key condition of Yankees executives for staying in the Bronx.

The state contributed $70 million in cash for new garages, while the city donated park land and provided tax-exempt financing.

At the time, everyone promised the new garages would produce annual rent revenues for the city at least equal to the $3million the old garages generated. But deep in the fine print, the city inserted a provision that allowed the developer to defer any city payments in years where cash flow was insufficient.

"Last year, occupancy [for the garages] was lower than the analysis predicted," said David Lombino, a spokesman for the city's Economic Development Administration. "As the economy improves, we can expect that occupancy would improve."

Don't hold your breath.

Bronx Parking's audited financial reports show the garages produced $12 million in revenue during the Yankees championship season last year. That was a little more than the company projected when it launched the project.


Read More:

New York Daily News - June 16th 2010 - Juan Gonzalez

Field Of Schemes - June 16, 2010 - By Neil deMause

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