DDD Finds White Knight at Eleventh Hour
After months of talk, anti-Ratner group Develop Don’t Destroy scored its biggest coup to date when Extell Development Company submitted a rival bid for the Atlantic Rail Yards just in time to beat Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline. Although the details are fuzzy, one can safely assume it will not include any tilting towers! While there…
After months of talk, anti-Ratner group Develop Don’t Destroy scored its biggest coup to date when Extell Development Company submitted a rival bid for the Atlantic Rail Yards just in time to beat Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline. Although the details are fuzzy, one can safely assume it will not include any tilting towers! While there are plenty of ways to improve on the Ratner plan, the group’s idealism may put them at a disadvantage in the bidding, as the memo sent out yesterday from Develop Don’t Destroy to Historic Fort Greene members (via Set Speed) points out:
Keep in mind that Extell has been in a difficult position of having to bid a high number to try to win, while building low enough to satisfy the community. They have essentially been caught between a rock and a hard place: the MTA suggests an FAR (floor to area ratio) of 10 (Ratner is using about 8.9), while the Community wants an FAR of 6.0. So they are likely being pulled in 2 directions… thanks for nothing MTA!
Extell proposes the creation of a corridor of apartment buildings undulating over the yards, with shops, landscaped walkways, recreation areas and 1,940 housing units for roughly 4,800 people. According to the NY Times, there are a total of 11 buildings ranging from 4 to 28 stories tall. (By contrast, Ratner has proposed 17 Gehry-designed buildings with 6,000 residential units housing roughly 15,000 people and 1.9 million square feet of office space In addition.) While this sounds to us like a meaningful difference in size, it’s still on a much larger scale than the existing neighborhood so we have a hard time believing that the vocal opponents of Ratner’s plan as well as those brownstone owners nearby are going to be exactly thrilled by this one either. Sounds like it will also be a little bit of Houston in Brooklyn.
The one thing we feel strongly about is that the area does need a master plan. There are aspects to Gehry’s design which are compelling in our opinion, but others we could do without. If Extell can manage to win the bid while creating a viable plan that’s more in scale with the neighborhood, we’re all ears.
Brooklyn Plan Draws Rival Bid [NY Times]
Jump Ball in Brooklyn [NY Post]
Nets Face Competing Bid [NY Newsday]
Surprise Competing Bid for Rail Yards [NY1]
11th Hour Heroics [Set Speed]
Home Page [Develop Don’t Destroy]
If they build the nets, they should only provide minimal parking, so people will be forced to take mass transit. Anyway, there are enough b-ball fans within a 15 min subway ride away from Altantic Ave to fill the arena. We don’t need the suburban fans.
And to all the people worried about the area getting too crowded I have news for you: NYC’s population is barely growing right now (because of restricted immigration since 9/11 mainly), and in fact Brooklyn’s public school enrollment is going down. Back in the 30s/40s, I’m sure the subways were much more crowded, and those were the “good ol’ days”… c’mon coney island used to attract 2 million people on a Saturday. And with all these brownstones being renovated, and pushing the population down, we need about 5 more “ratner”-size projects just to break even long-term.
Ugghhh, enough with the whole Brooklyn needs a pro basketball team so it can feel good about itself, civic pride, etc. NYC already has the Knicks. As much as Brooklyn thinks of itself as an independent city, it’s not…it’s a borough. The benefit of adding the nets will be like the benefit of adding the Clippers to a Laker town anyway.
Ratner’s debut as owner of the Nets has not provided fans much to cheer about. He basically ran the franchise into the ground by jettisoning most if not all of the talent, infuriating and betraying its best player who now doesn’t really want to be a Net, and then respond to criticism by trading for a moody, “marquee” has been.
Besides, twenty years from now all you’re going to hear from the Nets is how the Atlantic Yards arena doesn’t have enough luxury boxes, etc. and ask for more public tax dollars to build them a new one…probably on Long Island when the whole urban/suburban dynamic cycle switches over to the other side again.
Atlantic area has movie theater, restaurants,
BAM , I don’t think bad idea adding arena to the mix as well as office buildings.
And adding more density of population will increase the commercial demand.
Sounds like many want it to be just bedroom community/residential – not as vibrant as mix.
Exelent point it began with Metreon wich has movies, restorants, galeries (24 hours use), somthing like that would be perfect for Atlantic
http://www.metreon.com/
Problem with arenas/stadiums are lack of 24 hours use (there are use only at the game time)
Planers in SF are smarter then in Brooklyn and they located stadion on the waterfront and provided aprop. parking space.
The development of SoMa in San Francisco began with the Metreon (a block away from Market) and Pac Bell Park (on the bay). Everything in-between came after those two major commerical developments went up. The area is close in size to the proposed Ratner/Extell development.
Not to bring up this point again, but right now it is just abandoned railroads – something WILL be developed there sooner or later, and more ‘historic’ brownstones are just not an option.
Hey Sports Fans,
Log on for the real deal about stadium projects coast-to-coast.
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/
San Francisko stadium is in totally different location -proper location is on the waterfront separated from develop. by Embarcadero.
Honestly i doubt that area improvment is becouse of stadion.
If it is located on Market street it would be fair to compare it to Brooklyn.
It is a good point there is a difference between stadion and arena. Stadion would be far worst in this location.
I think it is more aprrop. to comp. it to Medison squre garden and its efect on nabe.
I think its Camden Yards in Baltimore that has improved that neighborhood. And its an arena not a stadium – big difference when trying to picture size.
I’m not in favor of stadiums, in general, especially when built with public funds, but I don’t think it’s accurate that they generally drag down the areas they’re built in; I think they’re generally a benefit (but not enough to justify substantial taxpayer support). I know that San Francisco’s new baseball park really supported development of the Mission Bay area it’s in; Denver and Baltimore’s stadiums also supported their areas (although Baltimore’s such a wreck that only the very immediate Inner Harbor area showed any real improvement). While it’s not relevant to Brooklyn, they’re also frequently good for smaller cities: San Jose’s construction of the arena and getting a hockey team was generally pretty positive.
Nonetheless, I personally don’t care whether the Nets get a new stadium in downtown Brooklyn or not, and I don’t think the benefits (if any) to the community will be enough to justify a substantial taxpayer subsidy.