OMG! Atlantic Yards Project has been approved

[runtothesun]

So...what do you all expect to happen to the real estate prices and the socioeconomic makeup in the area? Will there be rampant speculation by developers and individual investors? Will prices appreciate? Is the fog of gentrification going to seep in to the area from Park Slope? Will the open space around the arena work well as a community gathering center, as planned?

I work for an architecture firm and at one point we made a push to design a massive retail center next door - can't talk specifics but a developer is buying up plots of land and is looking to build an all-glass curtain wall type of building across the street...

[Bronxguyanese]

Here in the BRonx we have Yankee stadium, Manhattan has MSG, Queens have citifields and BK is going to have Barclays Center! Every borough has thier own sporting and entertainment venue except Staten Island. Like the Bronx and its New Yankee Stadium, Brooklyn Barclays center will reap rewards for the borough! Only time will tell!

[grvthang]

Here are my concerns about the Atlantic Yards project:

- The city gave the site over to a single developer (Forest City Ratner, or FCR) without even looking into obtaining competing proposals from other developers, who may have had better ideas for the site's use
-The city gave the site to FCR for less than half of its appraised value
-The scale of the project is out of synch with the surrounding neighborhood. Have you ever driven by the intersection of Atlantic Ave./Flatbush Ave./Fourth Ave.? It's barely passable at some times of day as it is. This is not the place for an arena so far removed from a highway. And I've heard no special plans to handle traffic in the area.
-FCR's 'bait and switch' routine. The original plan included exceptional structures designed by Frank Gehry. Once the final opposition was out of the way, they fired Gehry. The beautiful arena design is gone, replaced by a new one that more closely resembles an airplane hangar. And now FCR is talking about building pre-fab hi-rises on the site (we all know how ugly pre-fab structures usually are), eliminating many on-site jobs. If this had been his original plan, I doubt it would have been approved.

I'm not against progress. I'm against subsidizing a poorly-designed sweetheart deal. But it's too late to do anything about it now.

[nei]

From what I could gather from googlestreetview, none of the buildings are particularly special, though nothing that bad. Some are already gone from streetview. anyone have photos?

[StuddedLeather]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler

We need an Arena here like we need the plague. All this stuff is always supposed to make good for the city monetarily wise, yet we are always bankrupt.

Lol please don't tell me you believe it when they tell us that.

Originally Posted by grvthang

Here are my concerns about the Atlantic Yards project:

-FCR's 'bait and switch' routine. The original plan included exceptional structures designed by Frank Gehry. Once the final opposition was out of the way, they fired Gehry. The beautiful arena design is gone, replaced by a new one that more closely resembles an airplane hangar. And now FCR is talking about building pre-fab hi-rises on the site (we all know how ugly pre-fab structures usually are), eliminating many on-site jobs. If this had been his original plan, I doubt it would have been approved.

I'm not against progress. I'm against subsidizing a poorly-designed sweetheart deal. But it's too late to do anything about it now.

I agree Franks design was definitely superior! But eventually I feel people will learn to like it. Or at least accept it.

Also on the Pre-Fab thing not ALL are ugly, and I think they know they have to bring a great design after all of this. This one isn't that bad. . .

Link

^^^ It's possible to build a nice one, but they have to find a good designer!
We'll see though!

Originally Posted by nei

From what I could gather from googlestreetview, none of the buildings are particularly special, though nothing that bad. Some are already gone from streetview. anyone have photos?

As a Brooklyn Native that area needed to be revived. I'm not talking about traffic, it's NY that's inevitable. The area was a "dump" in a sense but with the arena and finished project it'll fell like a new community; In/next to an already nice and upcoming neighborhood. Prospect Heights and Downtown Brooklyn respectively.

People are always opposed to building up in NYC but I don't see the problem. (Especially for Brooklyn!) Many resident's won't be displaced (and If they are they should hire great lawyers for a nice settlement )