the government of New York City to purchase and take over the terminal. A similar vote passed the United States House of Representatives that November. Shortly afterward, the city began tendering proposals from developers who wanted to redevelop the terminal. The city received four proposals: of these, two were for industrial redevelopment, one was for residential development, and one was for mixed-use development. In September 1980, Helmsley-Spear Inc. was selected to develop an industrial site at Brooklyn Army Terminal, in a format similar to at the nearby Bush Terminal. The federal government and the city then began discussing a purchase price for the terminal, but negotiations stalled for two months because of disagreements over sale price. According to New York City Economic Development Commissioner Kenneth Schuman, after a tentative deal was struck with Helmsley-Spear, Inc., the U.S. General Services Administration rejected the sale price that the regional office had agreed to, and further talks between the city government and Helmsley-Spear were put on hold. By December, the federal government agreed to sell the terminal for $8.5 million; roughly half of the cost, or $4 million, would be paid by the city, while the remaining balance would be paid by the United States Economic Development Administration. The federal government withheld aid for another several months, but finally approved the $4.5 million grant in April 1981. The two sides finalized the sale in July 1981. In September of that year, Helmsley-Spear Inc. CEO Harry Helmsley announced that he was withdrawing the company from a tentative deal to sublet the Brooklyn Army Terminal from the city. The withdrawal came after a disagreement over the lease terms when the city found out that Harry Helmsley, a partner in the company, was in the final stages of selling the Gair Industrial Buildings for development into a residential and commercial complex five miles to the south along the Brooklyn waterfront. Claiming that this sale could increase the Army Terminal’s value, the city had proposed new terms in which it would receive a greater share of the profits from subleasing the terminal to industrial tenants. By 1983, the city had hired Eastdil Realty, which was arranging for $20 million to rehabilitate the first building in the complex. Most of the $20 million would come from private sources, but the city would pledge $2 million and was awaiting another $5.6 million of federal Urban Development Action Grants. The