Field of Schemes: NYC planners: Housing kicks stadium's butt

December 01, 2004

NYC planners: Housing kicks stadium's butt

One of the main arguments against spending $600 million in public money on a Manhattan stadium for the New York Jets has been that the money, and land, could be better used for other projects. No one, however, had done an analysis of alternative uses for the site - until now.

Earlier today, the non-profit Regional Plan Association released an economic analysis of what would happen if New York used the West Side rail yards for apartment complexes, instead of a stadium. Their conclusion: Given the intense demand for housing in Manhattan, a mixed-use development would generate almost seven times as much revenue for the city as even the Jets say a stadium would. According to the RPA report (available for download here):

The mixed-use program would provide net [annual] revenue of $510 million (present value in 2003 dollars), compared to only $74 million for the stadium. The gap was due to decreased infrastructure costs - the mixed-use alternative assumes public investment in the deck over the Yards but does not require the $225 million stadium roof - and new revenues from development fees and property taxes on the Western Yards. It is important to note that while income and sales tax revenues are included for the stadium, they are not included for the mixed-use alternative. Were these significant revenues to be calculated and included, the gap favoring the mixed-use alternative would be even greater.

The Hudson Yards Coalition, a group led by local development interests, responded by calling the RPA the "Regional Fantasy Association" and shouting "La la la la la, we can't hear you!" (Hint: One of the preceding statements is true.) No comment yet from city officials; given the likelihood that affordable housing will be a major issue in the upcoming mayoral race, though, the RPA report could make for some mighty interesting lines of questioning at this month's city council hearings.

COMMENTS

Maybe the RPA can keep the monster from appearing, their proposals over the years are well thought out and reasoned. Could this keep the "monument" to themselves that Doctoroff and Bloomberg want to foist on the NY State taxpayers from becoming the same white elephant that the Javits Center is ? NYC is one of the most expensive places in this country to put on a convention, do you think that rates charged for use of the stadium will be less than what large meeting halls in other cities charge ?
Posted by: Paul Wiederecht at December 2, 2004 02:31 PM

It makes a lot more sense to build apartments and the businesses to support the residents who will live in the area 365 days a year than some gold plated stadium that gets used 8 Sundays a year.
Posted by: Michael Kim at December 2, 2004 05:36 PM

NY already has experience in the how ineffective stadiums are in "revitalizing" an area. Old Penn State was torn down to build Madison Square Garden yet the area around the Garden is one of the worst in Midtown/Lower Manhattan. Yankee Stadium has done nothing to improve or prevent the decline in the South Bronx.
Posted by: Michael Kim at December 2, 2004 05:39 PM