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October 2, 2009
A Gehry Tower Rises
Beekman: The Ratner/Gehry Project That Wasn't Dropped
NY Observer
by Eliot Brown
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To anyone who treks west over the Brooklyn or Manhattan bridges each morning, a quick glance to the area just south of the Municipal Building will reveal a new addition to the Lower Manhattan skyline: a skinny, tiered concrete skeleton that's rapidly climbing upward.
The apartment tower-to-be—67 stories as of Wednesday—is a high-end rental building developed by Forest City Ratner, the firm that is desperately trying to build a new Nets basketball arena and accompanying 16-tower development near Downtown Brooklyn. And it is also—as the distinct, undulating aluminum façade now rising on the building's lower half might suggest—designed by Frank Gehry, his first residential high-rise.
(Forest City, to much criticism, dropped Mr. Gehry earlier this year from the Brooklyn project after years of planning, design and salesmanship in an attempt to significantly lower costs.)
On Wednesday, we got to take a look inside the tower, simply called Beekman, where Bruce Ratner, Forest City Ratner chairman, led us up to snap some photos a few floors shy of the top.
The photo above is by Mr. Brown, for The Observer.
Posted by eric at October 2, 2009 11:09 AM