Atlantic Yards' Miss Brooklyn is slashed more than 100 feet in massive redo

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Atlantic Yards' Miss Brooklyn is slashed more than 100 feet in massive redo

By Jotham Sederstrom

Daily News Staff Writer

May 5th 2008

 

There she goes.

 

[float=right][/float]Miss Brooklyn, the Frank Gehry-designed signature tower of the controversial Atlantic Yards project, has been dumped.

 

Originally envisioned as a 620-foot residential and commercial tower, the newly named "B1" - or Building One - will be slashed to 511 feet and feature commercial office space only, Gehry said yesterday.

 

"My enthusiasm for Atlantic Yards has grown and grown until arriving at our current design, which works better with the surrounding area than it ever had before," said Gehry of new designs obtained exclusively by the Daily News.

 

"Miss Brooklyn, now called Building One, has been slimmed down and has become more festive, resulting in a very unique office building," he said.

 

"I've tried to give it some energy and excitement as it meshes with the arena design."

 

The 34-story structure - once expected to rise higher than the Williamsburgh Savings Bank - will now be dwarfed by it. The sleek Miss Brooklyn is replaced by an asymmetrical design that rises like a spiraling Lego structure, edges askew.

 

The glass-and-steel-framed building, seen as the centerpiece of the oft-stalled 22-acre project, will no longer house condos and instead will offer 650,000 square feet of office space, officials said.

 

[float=right]

Architect Frank Gehry[/float]The condos will be shifted to a different building or be built as rental units instead, said Forest City Ratner Executive Vice President MaryAnne Gilmartin.

 

Meanwhile, "B2," which will be completed first, is a red-and-pink-hued, 340-foot building featuring 350 market-rate and affordable apartments, which Gehry said "speaks to the residential fabric of the neighborhood."

 

The $4.2 billion project, slated to include 16 residential and commercial towers encircling a pro basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets, has seen its share of trouble since the plan was approved by state officials in 2006.

 

There's been a bevy of lawsuits waged by opponents.

 

In March, supporters and critics were shocked to learn that much of the project - including the former Miss Brooklyn - would be delayed because of a looming financial crisis.

 

Ratner officials now claim the constantly changing project is on track to be built by 2018.

 

Opponents still say that's an ambitious target date because there's no deal yet on financing or an anchor tenant.