Bar Association: Reform Community Developer Dealmaking (New York Observer)

Bar Association: Reform Community Developer Dealmaking

“The Association of the Bar of New York City doesn’t seem to think all that highly of the current process by which landlords cut formal, non-standardized deals with community groups – known as Community Benefits Agreements – to win approvals for planned developments…. The well-researched Bar Association’s report piles on more criticism and suggests that the tit-for-tat linking of a council land-use approval with a CBA is improper, if not illegal, given that developers are effectively buying zoning changes by paying certain community groups. It recommends that the city lead a discussion on how to adjust or standardize CBA’s, and to formally separate them from the land-use approval process. ”

New York Observer
March 17, 2010