February 9, 2010

Stuff Actually Happening in the BAM Cultural District?

bam%20master%20plan%202-2010.jpg
This week's issue of Crain's has an article about how steps are being taken to realize some of the long-held plans for the BAM Cultural District. First up, the newsy bit: This week BAM is expected to close on the ground-floor retail space at the Forte condo and "it will use that space to exhibit its archives and to produce other public programming." Aside from that, the story says the Theatre for a New Audience is supposed to break ground on its 27,500-square-foot facility in December, and BAM intends to start working on a new building it's constructing this summer. Work on a new park and landscaping is also scheduled to begin before the end of this year. Taken together, it's all very exciting, though as the piece notes, "the nascent arts neighborhood has had so many setbacks, it's easy to question whether these projects will be completed as scheduled, especially during a major recession." We'll just have to wait and see.
Curtain Rises on Brooklyn Arts Center [Crain's]
Fulton St. Theater Will Be New Home for Arts Orgs [Brownstoner]
BAM Theater for a New Audience Not Dead [Brownstoner]
BAM Cultural District: Alive If Not Exactly Kicking [Brownstoner]
BAM District Master Plan from DBP.

December 17, 2009

Strand Theater 2.0 Renderings Revealed

Details about the renovation of the Strand Theater in the BAM Cultural District were released in the summer of 2008 but these are the first renderings we've seen of the $17 million project. They come via a reader from the website of Leeser Architecture. The finished product will be about 20,000 square larger than the existing space and house two local non-profits, BRIC Arts and Urban Glass. There will be a new theatre, black box studio and art gallery in addition to classrooms and a media viewing space. When it was originally announced a completion date of next year was forecast but we have no idea if that's on track.
Fulton St. Theater Will Be New Home for Arts Orgs [Brownstoner] GMAP

June 26, 2009

BAM Buys 321 Ashland for $7 Mil From Two Trees

321%20ashland.jpg
The news of LPC's sign-off on a new performing arts building for BAM at 321 Ashland Place last week coincided with the property changing hands: Two Trees sold the building to BAM for $7 million in a deal that was recorded last Thursday in public records. According to a spokesperson for BAM, after the addition to the building is complete in 2012, it will be handed over to the city, which owns all the real estate that houses the academy. The city is helping to pay for the new performing arts center's construction.
LPC Signs Off on New BAM Performing Arts Building [Brownstoner] GMAP
Photo from Property Shark.

June 19, 2009

LPC Signs Off on New BAM Performing Arts Building

On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission gave a unanimous thumbs-up to H3 Hardy Collaboration Architects' design for the proposed Richard B. Fisher Building, reports the Brooklyn Eagle. The design preserves the existing facade and front portion of the existing two-story building at 321 Ashland Place currently being used by Brooklyn Music & Arts and adds a new six-story structure behind it. The Fisher building will house a performing arts center as well as some more flexible theater and rehearsal space. Work is slated to begin next spring with a target completion date of two years later.
LPC Approves Design of New BAM Performing Arts Building [Brooklyn Eagle] GMAP

April 22, 2009

BAM Theater for a New Audience Not Dead

Although many of BAM's grand expansion plans have been tabled by the recession, the Theater for a New Audience is still happening. The project's sole architect (after Frank Gehry got the boot last summer) Hugh Hardy told the crowd at Monday night's Fort Greene Association meeting that the $59 million project "hasn't died." Hardy did allude to problems over the project's life, including a ballooning budget (it started out at $38 million) and shifts in site location; it's now slated to be part of the BAM Cultural District's North Site on Rockwell Place between Lafayette and Fulton. The Brooklyn Paper reported that construction could start as soon as this December.
Theater for a New Audience Project is Reeling [Brooklyn Paper]

April 21, 2009

Price Cuts at Forte

A reader sent word that a bunch of units at the Forte had just undergone price cuts so we checked in with the broker to see what was going on. Turns out that they are gearing up for a month-long "incentive pricing" initiative on ten units that will see two-bedrooms (like this one) drop to $650,000 and three-bedrooms (like this one), which was asking $976,000 as recently as January, get down to $775,000. (The Forte is a long-time advertiser on Brownstoner.)
Forte Marketing Effort Gets a Makeover [Brownstoner] GMAP
Condos of the Day: Price Cuts at Forte [Brownstoner]

April 6, 2009

City Used Eminent Domain for BAM Cultural District

While researching Friday's post about the Danspace tower getting killed, we stumbled across something interesting: In January, the city acquired six properties in the BAM Cultural District via eminent domain. All six properties were within the block bounded by Fulton Street, Ashland Place, Lafayette Avenue and Rockwell Place. We should have noticed this earlier, as the BAM properties were actually acquired as part of a larger eminent domain grab that included several lots within the footprint of Willoughby Square Park. We reported that news back in January when it happened. How do people feel about the use of eminent domain in this case?
Another BAM Building Gets Tabled [Brownstoner]
City Secures Rest of Willoughby Square Park Properties [Brownstoner]

April 3, 2009

Another BAM Building Gets Tabled

The vision of a sweeping BAM Cultural District took another hit yesterday with the news, reported by the Brooklyn Paper, that a large mixed-use project slated for the southwest corner of Fulton Street and Ashland Place was being put on hold. "The mixed-use developments are feeling the most from the current economic situation," said Kate Dixon, director of planning and development for the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. The tower was supposed to contain 187 residential units (100 of which were to be "affordable") and be anchored by Danspace. Big bummer but not that surprising, we guess.
BAM! Housing Project Out of Cultural District [Brooklyn Paper] GMAP
BAM Cultural District: Alive If Not Exactly Kicking [Brownstoner]

January 21, 2009

BAM Announces Ambitious Campaign, New Theater

In anticipation of its 150th anniversary in 2011, the Brooklyn Academy of Music announced an ambitious $300 million capital campaign yesterday that would fund the creation of a new 263-seat theater in the former Salvation Army building at 321 Ashland Place around the corner from its main building in Fort Greene; in addition, the plan calls for establishing up to four new spaces for screening films and starting new festivals devoted to opera and Muslim culture. “Despite the current economic environment, we have already raised more than half of the campaign’s $300 million goal,” said Adam E. Max, a trustee of BAM and chairman of the campaign. “People recognize that BAM is critical to the performing arts both locally and globally and that the campaign is critical in ensuring BAM fulfills its mission.” While the Salvation Army theatre isn't actually news (it's mentioned in this piece from the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership), its architect—Hugh Hardy, who also designed the main building's modern awning—and the benefactor it will be named for—former chairman of the Academy's endowment trust Richard B. Fisher—were. The new "black-box" theater facility will be technologically advanced and able to accommodate certain modern productions that the two existing theater spaces cannot.
Brooklyn Academy Thinks Big, Despite All [NY Times]
BAM to Open New Theater Space [Variety]
BAM Launching $300M Capital Campaign [Crain's]
Photo from Fading Ad Blog

November 13, 2008

Long Line Around BAM?

This morning we spotted this long line of twenty-somethings snaking up Fulton, around onto Ashland towards BAM; a friend told us that he saw people in tents last night in front of Mark Morris. What's going on? American Idol auditions?

August 22, 2008

Gehry Ousted as BAM Theater Architect

Frank Gehry won't be a part of the Theater for a New Audience project in the BAM Cultural District, although, reports the New York Times, he apparently didn't know it. His partner-in-design, Hugh Hardy, will be the sole architect from here on in, mainly, say the theater folks, because Gehry is just too busy. In fact, he might be so busy that he doesn't remember telling them he was too busy. Hardy certainly has his share of institutional projects on his resume, and Gehry says the project will be fine without him. Since the goal of the district is to "create much-needed affordable performance and rehearsal space, mixed-income housing, and new public open space," maybe removing Gehry's name, and fees, will help? For now, though Gehry's still listed on the TFANA Web site.
Gehry Out as Architect of Theater in Brooklyn [NY Times]

June 16, 2008

Norten Design for BAM is Resurrected by Two Trees

Hey, remember this rendering? It bears more than a passing resemblance to the Enrique Norten/TEN Arquitectos design for the $135 million library that was supposed to be built in the BAM Cultural District. While those plans were scrapped last spring, the Sun is reporting that a glassy Norton building may yet rise on the lot where the library was slated to go. The new plans come via Two Trees, who want to develop a 371,000-square-foot building with 180 units of housing and 187,000 square feet of commercial space, with some of the latter set aside for community arts organizations. Two Trees would buy the site from the city for $20 million and transfer a nearby lot on Ashland Place, between Lafayette Avenue and Hanson, to BAM, which would use the property to build administrative offices and a 263-seat community and educational theater. All of this still needs city approval in order to happen.
Mixed-Use Facility Planned For Brooklyn Cultural District [NY Sun]
No Norten for BAM? [Brownstoner]
Rendering from The Sun.

March 28, 2008

Downtown Office Collective Tries to Go Green

creative%20collective%20flatbush%20sm.jpg Al Attara has owned his early-20th Century, seven-story office building on Flatbush Avenue for 30 years. Now he wants to share ownership with freelancers and small firms in the design, architecture and planning, media, and literary world. Collectively, he said they could pool their money to build a "green" addition 100 feet tall, "but we'll go up as high as we can to take advantage of the southern exposure and wind." Though a collective has always been his vision, up until two years ago Attara said his building was part of an urban renewal area, meaning it could be seized by the city at any time. Now, some tenants are ready to invest but the group is looking for more partners.

With Brooklyn gaining creative freelancers faster than any borough at 33 percent over five years, and more small creative firms moving here, Attara's vision seems like an attractive option for those with capital. Currently, a large desk and free run of the building's many cavernous, curio-filled rooms runs $400 per month. The problem is "creatives," stereotypically bad with money and more concerned with self-fulfillment than financial gain, are competing for space in a profit-driven society. Which is why Attara said forming a collective is necessary for survival - it's the only protection from getting the boot.

Continue reading "Downtown Office Collective Tries to Go Green"

March 14, 2008

96 Rockwell Place Sales: Over the Halfway Hump

In his letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle yesterday, DBP head Joe Chan tried to refute the paper's earlier assertion that residential sales were flagging Downtown Brooklyn by throwing out stats about some of the highest profile projects in the area. We were interested to read about the progress at 96 Rockwell Place. Back in August, we reported that 15 out of the 37 units were in contract. In Chan's letter, he notes that 58 percent of the apartments are now sold. That number jibes with 21 listings currently tagged as being in contract on the Halstead site. While this is nothing to sniff at and we happen to like this place's prospects, that clearly marks a deceleration in the pace of sales: 15 in the first four months and 6 in the past seven months. Eight of the units will be on view at the open house on Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m.
96 Rockwell Listings [Halstead] GMAP P*Shark DOB
Checking In on 96 Rockwell Place [Brownstoner]
New Development: 96 Rockwell Place [Brownstoner]

January 28, 2008

Condos of the Day: Price Cuts at Forte

The same forces that have led to recent price cuts and rental reversions in the Downtown area are also bleeding over into the BAM Cultural District, where the Clarett Group (a long-time advertiser on Brownstoner) just started cutting prices on some of the Forte's 110 units. Two bedrooms that used to be in the $750,000 range just got about $100,000 cheaper. The 1,059-square-foot Apartment 8D, for example, is now $650,000. Think that'll be enough to get fence-sitters to pull out their checkbooks?
Forte Studios on the Market [Brownstoner] GMAP
Forte's Law: Doubling Height Every Month [Brownstoner]
From Cheesecake to Condos on Fulton [Brownstoner]

December 20, 2007

Almost Move-In Time at One Hanson Place

According to a tipster, it won't be long before the moving trucks pull up in front of One Hanson Place. Apparently, the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy has been obtained for floors 9 through 14 and closings are being scheduled. The TCO for floors 15 and 16 is expected by the end of January with closings in March. Have any readers had their closings scheduled or take place yet?
One Hanson Update: Smaller Units Selling Best So Far [Brownstoner]
Available Apartments [One Hanson] GMAP

December 5, 2007

BAM Cultural District: Full-Speed Ahead

The psychology surrounding the future of the BAM Cultural District seems to have turned positive again on the heels of last month's appointment of Carlton Brown to develop the area's centerpiece, a $385 million mixed-income residential tower sitting atop 40,000-quare-foot dance center. (The Times describes the tower as being composed of "five cantilevered blocks of apartments ranging in height from 6 to 14 floors.") The vibe was distinctly more downbeat last Spring when plans were pulled for an Enrique Norten-designed library. The renewed momentum may have something to do with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership's new leadership role in the area. (“The turning point has been the administration’s putting much more emphasis on development of downtown Brooklyn,” says BAM's Harvey Lichtenstein.) Other reasons for optimism: The Hugh Hardy-designed Theatre for a New Audience at Lafayette and Ashland that's expected to break ground in Q1 and the 30,000-square-foot public plaza that's currently being planned for the immediate area.
Stalled Brooklyn Arts District Regains Momentum [NY Times]
BAM Cultural District: Alive If Not Exactly Kicking [Brownstoner]

November 29, 2007

Dueling Light Shows in BAM Cultural District

While the clock face at One Hanson was turned on for the first time last night, the public plaza in front of the Forte was illuminated with Christmas lights. Tis the season.

November 6, 2007

Developer and Plan Picked for BAM's Mixed-Use Tower

The RFP process for the mixed-use building on Site 4 in the BAM Cultural District has concluded with the selection of a plan by Harlem-based developer Full Spectrum over such big local names as David Walentas' Two Trees and Dermot Company of One Hanson fame; the architect for the plan is studioMDA. The decision comes just a couple of months after local outcry put Full Spectrum, whose head Carlton Brown has lived in Fort Greene and Bed Stuy for 25 years, back in contention after being eliminated in August. "Their level of affordability was great," said HPD spokesman Seth Donlin, explaining the pick. “And the design of the building architecturally was fantastic.” The new 30-story building, to be located at the southwest corner of Ashland Place and Fulton Street, will be known as Borough Gardens. The marquee tenant for the building will be DanceSpace, which will be housed in a 40,000-square-foot rehearsal and performance space. The tower will include 185 apartments, half of which will be set aside for low- and moderate-income residents; there will also be a retail and gallery component. Construction of the building, which will incorporate many green components (Full Spectrum has developed both the Solaire and 1400 on 5th in Manhattan), is expected to get underway in the first part of next year, with a target completion date of 2010.
Local Planner Gets the Big Job at BAM [Brooklyn Paper] GMAP
Unusual Building in Brooklyn’s BAM Cultural Center [Brooklyn Eagle]
Small Developer Beats Walentas & Dermot for BAM Tower [Curbed]
Downtown Update from Joe Chan at CB2 Meeting [Brownstoner]
BAM Cultural District: Alive If Not Exactly Kicking [Brownstoner]