The Bronx Parking Development Co., which runs the garages for the new Yankee stadium, faces an April 1 due date for a $6.8 million interest payment on bonds issued to fund construction of three facilities and all signs point to a default, according to an article yesterday at crainsnewyork.com by Hilary Potkewitz.
The property, which covers some 21 acres, was part of parkland taken over to make way for the current incarnation of Yankee Stadium, the article said.
In August, it continued, "Bronx Parking admitted that the facilities, which contain 9,000 parking spaces, were never more than 60% full on game days. As a result, it said, revenues were insufficient to service the more than $237 million in tax-exempt bonds issued to fund its project, which involved building three new garages and refurbishing several existing ones."
A spokesman for Bronx Parking declined to comment on its financial situation. Its parent company, Community Initiatives Development Corp., also would not comment.
"Our community loves its parks, and we could always use more," said Pastor Wenzell Jackson, chairman of Bronx Community Board 4, which includes the stadium and the surrounding area. "Now there's just empty parking garages that are not benefiting the community," the article said.
Bronx Borough President Rub¿n D¿az Jr., has said his office has "been working diligently to bring a top-flight hotel to the area near Yankee Stadium," and indicated he thought one of the garages could be used to develop a hotel.
Last year, the article continued, "Bronx Parking officials complained that an estimated 800 cars a game were parking at the nearby Gateway Shopping Center. And for good reason: Spaces at the center cost about $4 an hour, compared with $23 a game for a self-park space in the stadium garages (or $35 for valet service). This year, rates will increase to $35 a game ($45 for valet), according to the company's 2011 operating budget."
Bronx Parking also blamed its shortfall on Metro-North and its new train station at Yankee Stadium.
The article said that Lourdes Zapata, senior vice president of SoBro, the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, said that "the first step should be to reconsider how they're using these parking lots," adding that "looking at them exclusively for parking is a shortsighted way of looking at development in this area."
Ms. Zapata said that the air rights could be used for other commercial purposes or for building housing, the article said.
The property, which covers some 21 acres, was part of parkland taken over to make way for the current incarnation of Yankee Stadium, the article said.
In August, it continued, "Bronx Parking admitted that the facilities, which contain 9,000 parking spaces, were never more than 60% full on game days. As a result, it said, revenues were insufficient to service the more than $237 million in tax-exempt bonds issued to fund its project, which involved building three new garages and refurbishing several existing ones."
A spokesman for Bronx Parking declined to comment on its financial situation. Its parent company, Community Initiatives Development Corp., also would not comment.
"Our community loves its parks, and we could always use more," said Pastor Wenzell Jackson, chairman of Bronx Community Board 4, which includes the stadium and the surrounding area. "Now there's just empty parking garages that are not benefiting the community," the article said.
Bronx Borough President Rub¿n D¿az Jr., has said his office has "been working diligently to bring a top-flight hotel to the area near Yankee Stadium," and indicated he thought one of the garages could be used to develop a hotel.
Last year, the article continued, "Bronx Parking officials complained that an estimated 800 cars a game were parking at the nearby Gateway Shopping Center. And for good reason: Spaces at the center cost about $4 an hour, compared with $23 a game for a self-park space in the stadium garages (or $35 for valet service). This year, rates will increase to $35 a game ($45 for valet), according to the company's 2011 operating budget."
Bronx Parking also blamed its shortfall on Metro-North and its new train station at Yankee Stadium.
The article said that Lourdes Zapata, senior vice president of SoBro, the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, said that "the first step should be to reconsider how they're using these parking lots," adding that "looking at them exclusively for parking is a shortsighted way of looking at development in this area."
Ms. Zapata said that the air rights could be used for other commercial purposes or for building housing, the article said.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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