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December 16, 2008
Gehry Lays Off Staff
Wall St. Journal Blogs
By Alex Frangos and Jonathan Karp
WSJ is breaking the story that architect Frank Gehry disbanded the Atlantic Yards project team:
Frank Gehry laid off more than two dozen staffers in late November after client Forest City Ratner ordered the architect to put down his pencils on the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project, according to people familiar with the matter. A Gehry Partners LLP spokeswoman declined to comment.
A Forest City spokesman declined to comment and pointed to a previous statement that said work on the Brooklyn, N.Y., project was delayed because of legal challenges. Forest City has said it is committed to the 22-acre site, slated to be anchored by a basketball arena plus residential and office skyscrapers.
Forest City Ratner's parent, Forest City Enterprises Inc., said last week that it has cut off its new development pipeline, except for Atlantic Yards. But the project faces challenges given the recession and the financial markets. A $153 million land loan from Gramercy Capital Corp. that has accrued to $177 million, is due at the beginning of February. Forest City is in talks with Gramercy to extend the loan.
NoLandGrab: Ratner's PR team has lost a step, when the best they can come up with is the "legal challenges" excuse. Dumbasses, there's a half-demolished bridge over the railyards that will have to be rebuilt whether or not the project is stopped by a lawsuit.
The dismantling of the Atlantic Yards design team, in addition to the halt of prep work on the railyards and difficulty in raising credit means that realistically the project is on hiatus, in a deep sleep... or cryogenically frozen.
Posted by lumi at December 16, 2008 8:05 PM