Cirrus, LCOR Sign Pacific Park Momorandum

The Pacific Park development, beleaguered by more than two decades of delays, missed deadlines and foreclosure, has a path forward after Cirrus Real Estate Partners and LCOR signed a memorandum of understanding with the state Tuesday, an Empire State Development spokesperson confirmed.

ESD last month announced the developers’ $5 billion proposal for the next phase of development, which includes decking over the Atlantic Terminal railyards that extend two long blocks behind the Barclays Center. Building the deck won’t be simple, but ESD has committed $175 million to the task so far, with plans to find more funding going forward.

The non-binding agreement came just before a July 31 deadline to establish a timeline for the project, which must undergo periods of public and environmental review, 

The Cirrus-LCOR joint venture snapped up large swaths of the planned site in a foreclosure auction last year, after Shanghai-based conglomerate Greenland USA rebranded the megaproject from Atlantic Yards to Pacific Park, sold sites to outside developers then ultimately defaulted on nearly $350 million in loans tied to the projects.

The six buildings proposed for phase 2 will have 5,600 total units. That includes more than 1,200 income-restricted units, of which around 25 percent would be for moderate-income and 75 percent for low-income tenants, as well as 1,000 total condo units.

Greenland USA and the now-defunct developer Forest City Ratner, which helmed the project when it launched more than 20 years ago, had agreed to deliver 876 more affordable units by the end of May 2025, adding to 1,374 distributed across the eight existing Pacific Park buildings. 

After missing that deadline, the state was entitled to collect fines of $2,000 per unit until the affordable housing was delivered, but Gov. Kathy Hochul waived collecting a potential $5.25 million sum last year once Greenland USA threatened to sue the state.

The state declined to publicly share details of the MOU, first flagged by Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report blog reporter Norman Oder, with an ESD spokesperson pointing to the state’s Freedom of Information Law request as the way to access the document itself. 

LCOR and Cirrus spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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