Nets owner Bruce Ratner and the Metropolitan Transpotation Authority appear to have reached a deal that would allow Ratner to buy the nine-acre rail yard in downtown Brooklyn for the Nets' proposed arena.

The two sides have been locked in exclusive negotiations for six weeks and had until today to reach a deal. Earlier this week, Ratner doubled his original offer for the rail yard to $100 million. While neither side would comment on the negotiations, the MTA set a special board meeting for Wednesday to consider Ratner's proposal. The state agency usually only makes such a move after it has reached a deal.

Ratner is planning a $550 million arena designed by architect Frank Gehry at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in downtown Brooklyn. The arena, which would be the most expensive building of its kind in the country, would also be the centerpiece of a community of thousands of apartments and office buildings to be built during the next decade.

The Nets plan to move to Brooklyn for the 2008-09 season.