Finally...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/ny...1&ref=nyregion
City to Buy 7 Acres in Coney Island, Hoping to Spark a Revival
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
November 11, 2009
After a year of ultimatums, threats and stop-and-go negotiations, the Bloomberg administration has agreed to pay $95.6 million to a developer for seven acres in the heart of Coney Island, in a crucial step forward for its vision of turning the faded and dormant seaside amusement district into a glittering destination reminiscent of its heyday, according to executives on both sides of the negotiations.
The city’s deal with the developer, Joseph J. Sitt, capped a long standoff between the two sides, with each claiming it had the best plan for the revival of the fabled playground, but neither able to bring those plans to fruition in a deadly real estate market.
The city will announce the deal on Thursday, but the reality of a revived Coney Island remains a long way off.
Mr. Sitt began buying land in Coney Island in 2005, promising a modern, Las Vegas-style resort with hotels and condominiums among the rides. Today, much of the land sits vacant. While the Cyclone roller coaster, the Wonder Wheel and Nathan’s hot dog stand remain, the Thunderbolt, Child’s restaurant and even the Astroland amusement park are gone — cleared away for new ventures that were never built.
This summer, with Mr. Sitt and the city in heated negotiations, neither side wanted to be accused of stunting the area’s growth, so each brought in competing attractions for the high season. City Hall arranged for the Ringling Brothers to open a circus tent, and Mr. Sitt unveiled a tent colony of side shows. The tents are now empty, torn by the November winds off the ocean that sweep across the neighborhood.
“It doesn’t look good,” Dick Zigun, who runs the Coney Island Museum and the annual Mermaid Parade, said of the area. He said he was hopeful that the city “is as good as its word.”
Each side claimed victory, though no one wanted to comment for the record before Thursday’s announcement. While Mr. Sitt got much less than the $140 million he had been demanding for 10.5 of the 12.5 acres he owned, the $95.6 million for 6.9 acres came to more than $300 a square foot — a huge amount in the current market. Mr. Sitt, chief executive of Thor Equities, plans to develop hotels and stores in the 5.6 acres he still owns as the city invests in the neighborhood.
City officials did say that in the next few days they would begin soliciting offers for an interim amusement operator before seeking potential developers to create a year-round destination that would ideally include a diverse mix of thrill rides, games and attractions between the Cyclone and the KeySpan ballpark. As a first step, the administration is sending representatives to the annual convention of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions in Las Vegas next week.
The city now has the opportunity to entice a range of operators whose competing visions would make for a dynamic Coney Island, rather than a single vision that turns Coney Island into an amusement mall, said Michael Immerso, author of “Coney Island, the People’s Playground.”
“Coney’s stock in trade has always been beach and the Boardwalk working in tandem with the amusements,” Mr. Immerso said. “I’d urge them to focus on reclaiming the Boardwalk and beach as a seasonal amusement center.”
Mr. Sitt founded the Ashley Stewart plus-size clothing chain, and his company controls about 12 million square feet of retail, hotel and commercial property in cities across the country.
The developer, who often abandoned his high school classes in Brooklyn to spend time in Coney Island, began buying land in the area four years ago, evicting tenants and developing his own plan for redeveloping Coney Island. Mr. Sitt’s proposal called for a $1.5 billion Las Vegas style resort with a huge glass-enclosed water park, wild rides, many stores and condominiums or time-share hotels in tall towers near the beach.
But he clashed with city officials, who said that housing in the amusement district would inevitably clash with the flashing lights, clanging and dinging of the rides. In 2007, Deputy Mayor Robert C. Lieber described Mr. Sitt’s scheme as a “wolf dressed up as a sheep.”
Mr. Sitt’s land, however, was key to the city’s redevelopment plan, because it sat in the heart of the amusement and entertainment district. A year ago, Mr. Lieber offered $110 million for 10.5 acres of Mr. Sitt’s property, saying the price would go down if the deal was not accepted immediately. Mr. Sitt, who had asked for more than $140 million, went on vacation.
In April, the city offered $105 million. “The bottom line is we can only pay so much,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at the time.
Over the summer, the city rezoned a 19-block area of Coney Island, including a 27-acre amusement and entertainment district and, to the north and west of the district, almost 5,000 apartments and 500,000 square feet of retail. Given the deadlock and Mr. Sitt’s eviction of many tenants, neither side wanted to be blamed for the final decimation of the Coney Island amusements — hence this summer’s competing attractions.
The $95.6 million covers 6.9 acres, most of it along the Boardwalk, between the Cyclone and KeySpan Park, including the former home of Astroland amusement park.
“I think the city made a good choice in buying the land in order to the area along the boardwalk for amusements forever,” said Dennis Vourderis, who family runs the only amusement park left, Dino’s, and the Wonder Wheel, a city landmark. “It won’t be threatened by the development of apartments, shopping malls, or anything else. Now the question is, Who do we bring in to build this billion dollar amusement park.
Mr. Sitt has done very well buying but not building things in Brooklyn. In 2005, he bought a parcel west of the amusement district for $13 million and sold it 14 months later for $90 million. He also bought the Albee Square Mall in Downtown Brooklyn for $25 million in 2001, vowing to renovate. He sold it in 2007 for $125 million, without the makeover.
The Bloomberg administration has said it would not allow the site to lie fallow. It plans to find an interim operator and invest money in sprucing up the nearby Aquarium, designating up to 12 acres for amusements, renovating Steeplechase Plaza, creating a new park and installing a refurbished wooden carousel.
All of that is necessary for attracting new investment to the district, Mr. Zigun said.