Battle Over Site 26 Goes to State Supreme Court

NEW YORK CITY-The Battery Park City Authority recently filed a lawsuit against Brookfield Financial Properties over the rights to an undeveloped tract of waterfront land. The disputed area, known as Site 26, is located on West Street between Vesey and Murray Streets–an 89,121-sf tract with a 2 million-sf development potential. Class A office space is still at a premium in Manhattan, and the Battery Park City Authority stands to pull in around $100 million after the site is sold. Such a property has hugepotential and promise in Manhattan, where development opportunities are few and far between.

However, John E. Zuccotti, chairman of Brookfield Financial Properties, claims that he has exclusive development rights according to a 1983 agreement between BPCA and Brookfield’s predecessor, Olympia and York. James F. Gill, chairman of the BPCA, says that not only do these rights “not exist,” but fears that Zuccotti’s claims have the potential to drive Site 26′s selling price down and ward off potential buyers. With industry experts growing increasingly wary of the nation’s economic future, significant delays could be deadly. According to published reports, Gill asserts “if I were to put out a request for proposals, interested people would see an outstanding claim and would see being in court for a substantial period of time. [Zuccotti's claims] cast a pall.”