{"id":374,"date":"2005-08-22T10:34:40","date_gmt":"2005-08-22T17:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/?p=374"},"modified":"2005-08-22T10:34:40","modified_gmt":"2005-08-22T17:34:40","slug":"if-i-had-a-shovel-in-the-mornin-id-hand-out-some-government-money-in-the-evening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/?p=374","title":{"rendered":"If I had a shovel in the mornin’, I’d… hand out some government money in the evening."},"content":{"rendered":"

The Real Estate<\/a> has been pretty closely tracking what\u2019s going on with Goldman Sachs new tower in Battery Park City, which has quickly morphed<\/a> from the only commercial development in downtown that wasn\u2019t awash in government pump-priming into yet another poorly negotiated handout that will continue to unwind in entirely unsuspenseful fits and starts until the final bits of public money are extracted from the pockets of any unsuspecting souls on Broad Street who haven’t left after getting waylaid by the Starck PR juggernaut.<\/p>\n

The one point that I have to agree with is that the Goldman people don\u2019t seem to be bad sorts, even though the ironclad deal they wrangled<\/a> looks like they make a sport of putting the screws to anyone within arms\u2019 reach. I had business dealings with them some years ago, and they were real smart, real difficult (in the nicest sort of way), and refreshingly free of \u2018knuckle-dragging\u2019 (an term I must credit to one of my favorite clients) personas that are rampant in financial services. They make lots of money by making shrewd deals, and this latest one is an example of why they are so damn successful. I even heard that Pataki has to caddy for Hank Paulson on weekends for the next five years. Which is more useful than anything he\u2019s done downtown in the past ten.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re on the hook for something like three bills (really big bills, ones with eight zeroes), or as GS spokesperson Peter Rose put it in a rather understated way \u201cthe standard incentives for any corporation.\u201d I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m forming a corporation tomorrow<\/em>. Given the bad money being thrown after the good downtown these days, it would be particularly mean spirited to harsh on this deal. Word is that Goldman was playing it straight up when they pulled out in April, citing security concerns. Since Pataki couldn\u2019t be roused from the grain alcohol stupor he looks to be operating in these days, it took the newly refreshed and perhaps slightly more humble Dan Doctoroff to kick start the process (at least he recognized the need to burnish his legacy a bit before leaving town). Now things like agreements and milestones and whatnot are in place, it looks like an announcement will be finalized in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

The most significant downside to this plan is that it doesn\u2019t net any new jobs downtown. Goldman has substantial holdings downtown (including Broad Street, Maiden Lane, and, when I knew them, Liberty Plaza across the way), all of which will be discharged when the new building is done. Though they have an tentative agreement to bring more jobs downtown over the next two decades, they aren\u2019t obliged to, and they have a brand spanking new tower across the river that is only half full. So they have some flexibility.<\/p>\n

In the mean time, what is to become of 85 Broad Street, the current Goldman HQ? Unlike the recent activity further up towards Wall, 85 is a rather imposing, bland corporate edifice from the seventies, with very little Starck conversion glamour<\/a> possible.<\/p>\n

More broadly — heh, heh — what of the gradual decline of Broad Street and the Financial District? Most expect the trading floor at the NYSE to be a museum piece inside a decade, if not far sooner (who remembers the Grasso Garden planned back in the 90\u2019s? The threat to move to Jersey if they didn\u2019t get a half billion? Good times). The aftermath of 9\/11 has turned the street into a pedestrian mall (replete with tourists mugging with heavily armed soldiers for photos). This isn\u2019t an entirely unplanned effort<\/a>: Rogers Marvel produced some concepts a while back, which may or may not be what is currently being completed.<\/p>\n

Given that they area is still bereft of a viable residential or commercial streetscape (at least one that reflects the means required to be residential in the area), perhaps a more thoroughgoing solution should be pursued. Some attention is being paid to the various slips, the area is rich in historic import of all kinds, and the proximity to the water means that it isn\u2019t nearly as oppressive as 6th Avenue. Parts of Broad can be, but the irregular street pattern creates far more interesting vistas.<\/p>\n

If there is any future for large scale commercial development downtown, it is near the WTC site, for better or worse. Much of the declining inventory are big block, bland office towers that will appeal to almost no one. But given all the dire prognoses, downtown is still one of largest business districts in the country. For all its caginess and careful negotiation, Goldman Sachs still ranks as perhaps the best example of a quintessentially New York corporation, and has respected that reputation with consistent effort. Some other downtown stalwarts — Brown Brothers Harriman comes to mind — will persist, but even if one subscribes to the belief that a business has as much responsibility to their community as a resident, businesses are fickle, moving on, failing, changing. Downtown was already in flux before the horror of September 11. We have seen little there of inspired, thoughtful leadership. What hope do we then have for the area at large?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Real Estate has been pretty closely tracking what\u2019s going on with Goldman Sachs new tower in Battery Park City, which has quickly morphed from the only commercial development in downtown that wasn\u2019t awash in government pump-priming into yet another poorly negotiated handout that will continue to unwind in entirely unsuspenseful fits and starts until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missrepresentation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}