Prosecutors raid Atlantic Development office

April 24, 2009 08:30AMPeter FineManhattan prosecutors raided the Soho offices of Atlantic Development Group, one of the city'slargest affordable housing developers, yesterday. The Manhattan District Attorney's officedeclined to comment on the raid, and a spokesperson for Atlantic confirmed that there is anongoing investigation and the developer is cooperating with the authorities. According to thePost,the investigators were looking into an alleged bribery scheme, involving paying off cityofficials and construction companies to move projects along. The company, founded by PeterFine, recently unveiled its Boricua Village project in the Melrose section of the Bronx. The $270million mixed-used development is slated to include one million square feet of space for BoricuaCollege. [Crain's]

DA investigating Atlantic Development

July 27, 2009 01:00PMAtlantic Development's Peter FineThe Manhattan District Attorney is investigating the alleged employment of undocumentedworkers and payment of substandard wages at projects run by Atlantic Development. Peter Fine,founder of Atlantic, is also the producer of Broadway's "In the Heights." Sources told the NewYork Post that investigators have been asking laborers about Atlantic's wages and hiringpractices. The company, which uses many subcontractors, develops affordable and low-incomehousing. Prosecutors raided Atlantic Development's office in April. The company's Boricua Village project in the Melrose neighborhood of the Bronx opened several months ago.

Investigators Thursday raided the Manhattan office of a major developer who funneled thousands in campaign cash to local politicians, including White House aide Adolfo Carrión. City Department of Investigation agents spent hours gathering documents from the 155 SixthAve. offices of Atlantic Development Group. Armed with a search warrant from the Manhattan district attorney's office, agents and copsremoved dozens of boxes of records.DOI spokeswoman Diane Struzzi confirmed the raid but declined further comment. A spokesman for Atlantic, Lee Silberstein,said only: "There's an ongoing investigation, and Atlantic is cooperating with authorities."One target of the probe is a major Bronx project, Boricua Village, that's at the heart of a Daily News investigation into Carrión, the director of White House urban policy who, until last year,was Bronx borough president.In the last few years, Atlantic's owners, Peter Fine and Marc Altheim,and other company execs gave Carrión $52,400 in political contributions.During that time, the then-borough president recommended approval of Atlantic's BoricuaVillage, one of the biggest publicly subsidized projects in the Bronx.Carrión also sponsored $7.5 million in taxpayer funds for the project, which includes 675 unitsof housing and a 14-story tower for Boricua College.