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August 10, 2007
Lawrence St tower may top Williamsburgh Bank
The Brooklyn Paper
Bruce Ratner was pressured to reduce the height of the Atlantic Yards' signature tower, inanely dubbed "Miss Brooklyn" by architect Frank Gehry, to maintain the height supremacy of the nearby Williamsburgh Clock Tower building. Is it only a matter of time before the Clock Tower is dwarfed by some other new highrise?
The Williamsburgh Bank Building’s iconic clocktower would no longer be the borough’s tallest structure, if a big-time development company has its way.
The Clarett Group, the firm behind the Forte condos in Fort Greene, submitted a proposal in June for a 51-story residential building at 111 Lawrence St., near the Metrotech campus Downtown.
The Buildings Department rejected the proposal and sent it back to the developer for revision.
But if the basic elements of the proposal remain intact, the 491-unit residential tower would rise 514 feet, two feet taller than the legendary Williamsburgh Bank Building.
...
In 2006, Brooklynites were similarly aghast to discover that Miss Brooklyn, the trophy skyscraper of the Frank Gehry-designed 16-tower-and-arena Atlantic Yards project, would rise to 620 feet and obscure views of the clocktower. Later that year, developer Forest City Ratner, agreed to lower its height to below 512 feet.
NoLandGrab: There are two schools of thought regarding the preservation of the Clock Tower.
The "Don't Block the Clock" camp is primarily interested in preserving the "view corridor" — they were largely concerned about having the tallest building in Brooklyn a block away from the previously tallest building in Brooklyn.
The other school of thought goes one step further, in hopes of resisting the "Manhattanization" of Brooklyn and preserving its special character; the Clock Tower has become a symbol and measuring stick for high-rise proposals.
Posted by lumi at August 10, 2007 8:53 AM