More Questions Than Answers at Public Hearing About B2

The first public hearing about the first residential building at Atlantic Yards (known as B2) was sparsely attended earlier this week, with not a single board member in attendance. And judging from the post on Atlantic Yards Report yesterday, there are still more unknowns than knowns about the project. As you may recall, Forest City Ratner is on the hook to build 363 apartments in the 32-story tower, 50 percent of them subsidized across five income levels. What we still don’t know is how big the units will be or what they will rent for; nor do we know much about the financing or subsidies. Watchers from City Councilwoman Tish James to the Atlantic Yards Report note the plans ignore the city’s pressing need for units for large low-income families, skewing heavily toward studios and one bedrooms instead. Given that pricing is based on median income in the area (which is rising) some of the units may end up not being that affordable after all. As for size, Atlantic Yards Report speculates based on the New York City Housing Development Corporation’s standards that they’ll be small — 400 square feet for studios, 575 square feet for one bedrooms, and 775 square feet for two bedrooms. So much for closet space. As usual, Atlantic Yards Report has exhaustive coverage, so check it out for more info.
A Confounding Hearing on First Atlantic Yards Tower [AYR]