Gehry & Ratner Show Their Cards
July 5, 2005, NY Times — The massive building plan surrounding a new Nets arena east of Downtown Brooklyn will include a ridge of a half-dozen skyscrapers as high as 60 stories sweeping down Atlantic Avenue, along with four towers circling the basketball arena, according to new designs completed by the developer Bruce C. Ratner…
July 5, 2005, NY Times — The massive building plan surrounding a new Nets arena east of Downtown Brooklyn will include a ridge of a half-dozen skyscrapers as high as 60 stories sweeping down Atlantic Avenue, along with four towers circling the basketball arena, according to new designs completed by the developer Bruce C. Ratner and the architect Frank Gehry. The project, the largest proposed outside Manhattan in decades, would include much more housing than originally announced in 2003, growing to about 6,000 units from 4,500, according to a plan made available to The New York Times. But the real impact would be in the size and density of the buildings, which are taller and bulkier than once envisioned. With 17 buildings, many of them soaring 40 to 50 stories, the project would forever transform the borough and its often-intimate landscape, creating a dense urban skyline reminiscent of Houston or Dallas. The project would be built in phases, starting with the blocks around the arena, then the apartment complexes along Dean Street at the Vanderbilt Avenue end, and finally the northern stretch of housing along Atlantic Avenue. The arena is planned to open for the 2008-9 basketball season, said James P. Stuckey, an executive vice president at Forest City Ratner Companies, with the entire project completed as soon as 2011. The project will come before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority tomorrow as Mr. Ratner makes a formal proposal to buy and develop the Atlantic Avenue railyards.
Comment: We have to admit that these renderings are pretty exciting. Over the past several months, as the debate over the project has intensified, we found our sympathies leaning towards the anti-Ratner camp. We’re extremely uncomfortable with the concept of eminent domain and if our brownstone happened to be directly affected by the plan we’re sure we wouldn’t be pleased. But it’s hard to look at Gehry’s renderings and not get swept up. We couldn’t give a rat’s ass about having a local basketball team, but being at the center of arguably the most significant urban development effort in a generation (or more) is starting to outweigh our earlier reservations. Let’s hope that it’s more than a giant P.R. stunt to close the deal. Enough people’s lives are being uprooted that this better end up being something special. From the looks of it, it just may be.
Instant Skyline Added to Brooklyn Arena Plan [NY Times]
An Appraisal [NY Times]
Plase here you are very resonable altrnative master palan.
http://www.developdontdestroy.org/public/AYDWS.pdf
I agree with the previous poster. As a resident of Clinton Hill (used to live in Ft. Greene), I have not seen a viable alternative proposal. I am however, concerned about traffic and subway conjestion, and don’t like the fact that eminent domain is being used (or abused). At the same time, the railyards are a real wasteland between several neighborhoods, and that if developed over time would end up looking extremely unattractive (moreso than the proposed Ratner project anyway), if it were developed at all, which is questionable.
Just curious, why do you feel you should have a voice in what’s built there? Is it your property? Can you (and this “community”) put your funds together, purchase the land and do something better with it? All I see when I go home from work in FG/CH are anti-Ratner posters and anti-eminent domain posters. I haven’t heard one single good idea from any of you people other than don’t build it. We’re all listening and waiting but there’s nothing. Not good enough…
“if not here then where on earth is it appropriate???”
uh…nowhere.
David
Manhattan is more appropriate.
WTF, my sentiments exactly!
Has anyone seen the Ratner buildings in Times Square, the Atlantic Center or the Target Mall – crass, fugly, garish, no respect for history, architecture or community.
Don’t be suckered by Ghery “branding,” The stadium is but a very small piece of the pie. Ratnerville will be hideous––and we’ll be the ones paying for it, thanks to city tax rebates.
I definitely prefer barren railyards, piecemeal development, anything…to this monstrosity.
Lets make it straight; most of the people who oppose Ratner.
Do not oppose development. They do oppose unbalance oversize development without community input.
They oppose ignorance; they oppose community voice being destroyed by big money developers and politician. (Deal behind the close door is very robert moses like)
http://www.developdontdestroy.org/
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define “in context.” oh sure, let’s just rebuild all of brooklyn with brownstones. that’s a brilliant idea. you know, just because nothing remotely interesting has been built in bklyn in years doesn’t mean architecture is lacking in creativity. and now here we have a chance for it to come to bklyn and all you want is an 1880’s bwnstone. i love historic bklyn too — but you know what? i love it because it is historic and unique. i don’t want it all over again 125 years later.
ok…so let me get this straight…
this is a crappy design and ratner has strong-armed most owners with the threat of eminent domain…
but its OK because building a stadium is better than nothing. oh, and the area will become “safer”.
what about building in context? what about “brownstone brooklyn”. am i the only one who sees 50 story skycrapers in ft greene and goes “what the f–k!?!?!”