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December 8, 2011
The Mod Squad: Will Bruce Ratner Transform the Way New York Builds, or Is Prefab Another Project Too Far?
NY Observer
by Matt Chaban
For nine years now, Bruce Ratner has talked of transforming Brooklyn with his Atlantic Yards project. Bringing professional sports back to the borough, creating a new skyline, “a neighborhood practically from scratch,” as architect Frank Gehry once described it. There would be union jobs and affordable housing for all to enjoy.
As of now, only basketball and a handful of those jobs are guaranteed, all of which took three times as long as originally planned. Mr. Ratner and his partners like to blame the economy and the holdouts who sued to save their property, but the fact remains, they are running well behind schedule, possibly even in violation of previous commitments made to the state when the project was approved.
To catch up, Forest City Ratner has come up with a novel solution for myriad problems with his project: modular construction. More than transforming Brooklyn, Mr. Ratner may transform the way the entire city, even the world, builds. At least that is his hope.
Related coverage...
Brownstoner, Reactions to the Prefab Designs on Atlantic Yards
There’s a lengthy piece in the Observer about Forest City Ratner’s desire to use modular construction for many, if not all, of Atlantic Yards’ planned high rises. The story has quotes from people in the building trades who are supportive of the idea and some who are skeptical that it will actually save the developer a significant amount of money.
...The real unanswered question, though, doesn’t necessarily concern the cost savings but simply the technology: That is, can modular design actually be used for buildings as tall as the planned Atlantic Yards skyscrapers?
Posted by eric at December 8, 2011 11:06 AM