December 15, 2009

Nets bonds are sold, beating IRS deadline

Any thoughts that disinterested bond buyers might yet torpedo the Brooklyn Nets arena evaporated today, as a state development corporation sold $511 million in tax-exempt bonds today for the project. (The headline about "in two hours" slightly disingenuous; as I understand it, bond-selling is a drawn-out process that only becomes finalized once you have a buyer, so it's a bit like saying Roy Halladay traded in only two hours.) The press release indicates that the bonds sold at 6.48%, which is actually lower than team owner Bruce Ratner (who'll actually be paying off the bonds) was hoping for. It looks like Ratner saved himself a Devin Harris after all.

The bond sale means that the project will meet the December 31 IRS deadline for sale of the tax-free bonds, and presumably construction, or at least land clearing, could follow soon thereafter. In fact, Atlantic Yards Report notes that the city has already announced traffic changes to accommodate the beginnings of infrastructure work. The first of many, if the project is now becoming a reality.