March 22, 2005

Jets up the ante

One day after final bids were placed for Manhattan's West Side rail yards, the New York Jets offer was revealed: $280 million for the land itself, plus another $440 million from a consortium of developers for excess air rights to the site. That's a significant increase from the team's original bid of $100 million (with it left up to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to decide how to sell the air rights), though still not as high as the $330 million that the MTA was asking for.

Cablevision has reportedly increased its original offer as well (from $350 million for the land plus $250 million to build a platform, with no excess air rights left over), though no details have been provided. With questions remaining over whether the air rights are even saleable (a new city council zoning vote would likely be required), it's going to be no easy matter for the MTA board to compare the two bids and pick a winner.

And as if things weren't complicated enough, Newsday reports that top execs of the company hired by the MTA to help vet the rail yard bids previously donated $100,000 to the city's Olympic committee. The MTA has reportedly launched an investigation.

I'm off to daylong city council hearings on the Jets stadium plan; more on all this when I return this evening.