Content area
Full Text
WILL BILLIONAIRE dealmaker Donald Trump cash in his chips for a huge profit and give up his grand vision for Trump City on the Upper West Side - including plans for the world's tallest building?
Can Mortimer Zuckerman convince critics that his massive, multi-spired complex on the New York Coliseum site would not overwhelm Columbus Circle?
The outcome of these and other development sagas will help determine the winners - and winning strategies - in an increasingly fierce and sophisticated war between Manhattan developers and their opponents, real estate experts say.
They say that although building big projects in Manhattan has always been a daunting task, the process of gaining approval has become tougher in recent years in the face of more politically powerful and active community groups and more rigorous development laws.
"Ten years ago, it was relatively easy to deal with community concerns," said Edward H. Linde, president of Zuckerman's Boston Properties development firm. "Now it is a major factor in any developer's life. It commands the most attention and the most time and the most brain power and patience and creativity and stick-to-it-iveness."
Charles Urstadt, former state commissioner of housing and the first chairman of Battery Park City, the highly praised waterfront complex in lower Manhattan, agreed.
"I don't think you could do a Battery Park City today from scratch," Urstadt said. "The anti-growth forces are more organized. They push the right buttons. They know what problems to raise and what laws they can use to oppose things."
City officials say Trump would have a rough time getting approval for anything much more than half of his proposed 14.6 million-square-foot project. Trump says he feels confident about his plan, which would cost $5 billion and take 10 years. But he is considering the sale of the 13-block-long site - in what could be New York City's most expensive land deal.
"I'm torn between doing this great development, and making a very substantial profit," Trump said in an interview last week.
The most likely buyer, industry sources say, is a foreign-backed group led by William Zeckendorf Jr., an active but low-key Manhattan developer who is considered to be an expert at diffusing community complaints and winning political support.
"Zeckendorf is a very...