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…
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.
“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.” Actually, it bears more than a passing resemblance…it is the original rendering. The glass building on the left is TFANA, in the first of what is now three sites.
Eleven-ay-em makes a good point. I note that the director of TFANA seems none too pleased with the newest site for the theater, but doesn’t want to rock the boat.
1:13, the BAM LDC was absorbed into the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and the pace has picked up since then. Of course, at the same time, I am sure we have the partnership to thank for the kind of questionable deal-making that Shahn decries at 11:17.
Its hard to have much confidence in the BAM LDC at this point. Eight years in and still nothing to show but the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market.
this would be a fine complement to the AY development. the manhattan bridge to vanderbilt flatbush/atlantic stretch is going to be magnificent 15 years from now.
11:52 – thanks for the info.
Do you know anything about the additional changes between Lafayette and Fulton? If affordable housing is moving to the TFANA site, is this the Full Spectrum project moving, or additional affordable housing that wasn’t previously planned?
This whole project has had an unbelievable number of changes in plans. At this point I think they just need to pick something and stick with it.
zinka: Two Trees purchased the Salvation Army site on Ashland and transferred it to BAM. They are building an annex there. Walentas is on BAM’s board.
Any word on which specific parcel Two Trees is also swapping to the city for this land? It’s not listed in the article, and I was not previously aware that Two Trees owned any land in the area.
Am I the only person who has noticed that for a measly $26.5 million dollars, two Two Trees is getting land that should be worth a around $65 million dollars? For the $20 million they are paying the city plus the lot worth $6.5 million they are transferring to BAM, they will be getting land with 371,000 buildable square feet. At an average market value of $150-$175 a square foot for a lot like this it would be worth $65 million dollars on the open market. Two Trees will be paying the equivalent of only $71 a buildable square foot for space that is predominantly valuable residential and commercial space.
Why doesn’t the city ask for RFPs for this space, or open up it up to competitive bidding? The people getting short changed on this deal are us, the taxpayers. As mayor, Michael Bloomberg has sure pushed through a lot of projects that seem to benefit private developers more than the taxpayers.
Theater for a New Audience has been moved twice now. This was supposed to be a cultural district, and now all the cultural plans are being shoved in the corner and the largest, most visible spaces are going to commercial developers.
Tish James is not term limited in 2009. Her first term filled out the remainder of slain councilman James Davis and doesn’t count in the two term limit. Providing Tish wins her primary in 2009, she could represent this neighborhood in the city council until 2013!
as for political orientation, she is the only Working Families Party member in the entire city council…. and campaigned on a platform of looking out for the little guy.