February 17, 2005
Zone defense
Okay, so maybe that open bidding process for the proposed New York Jets stadium site isn't so pen after all. Newsday subway columnist Rey Sanchez notes that the March 21 deadline announced by Metropolitan Transportation Authority chair Peter Kalikow gives would-be buyers barely over a month to assemble final bids; and further that since the Jets have been promised the site will be rezoned for development but no one else has, this will put other bidders at a huge disadvantage.
"With the city declaring that it will not entertain any rezoning of the site, and with silence from the state, which has the power to override city zoning, it is highly unlikely that any developer will bid on the site," wrote Regional Planning Association president Robert Yaro in a statement released yesterday. "Under these rigged conditions, the Jets may be the only bidder. This is clearly not a true open bidding process."
Cablevision's initial $600 million offer for the site included a provision that the bid was contigent on getting the same zoning that was offered to the Jets, but apparently that's no longer acceptable to the MTA: Authority spokesperson Tom Kelly told Newsday that offers conditioned on future zoning "will not be deemed responsive." (Translation: will be rejected out of hand.) Bidders will be allowed to make two-tier offers, he said, with a smaller payment initially and the rest to be paid once the property is rezoned. But he said it would be possible to make an offer, which includes an up-front payment and an additional payment when the property is rezoned. "Everybody that has a horse in the race can pick anything they want apart."
The Jets, though, would have a huge advantage here: Since state and city officials have already promised to rezone the land for a stadium, the team can bid as if the rezoning has already taken place. (While nominally a power of the city council, zoning can also by overriden by state authorities such as the Empire State Development Corporation, controlled by Gov. George Pataki.) Other bidders would be forced to either submit a two-tier bid, or roll the dice and hope that the site will be rezoned after the sale.
One way to level the playing field would be for the city council to promise to rezone the site regardless of who buys it, something that council speaker Gifford Miller has vowed to do in a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg released today. (MS Word file downloadable here.) Unfortunately, the council can't rezone land without the approval of the department of city planning - which is controlled by the mayor's office. The only one with the power to unilaterally wave his wand and declare the land open for development, it appears, is the governor - which isn't exactly how I'd set up a democratic decision-making process, but then, nobody asked me.
As for Cablevision, it's still weighing how to respond to this latest wrinkle in the West Side land wars. We could know more next Tuesday, when the MTA reportedly will be issuing its official bidding rules for the rail yards.
Posted by: Mike Hodson at February 17, 2005 04:17 PM
Posted by: Neil at February 18, 2005 12:15 AM
