A Win for Ratner
The Brooklyn Paper reports on Bruce Ratner's recent victory in the courts against nine property owners who were arguing against the developer's use of eminent domain in the controverial Atlantic Yards project.
Whether or not Ratner's multi-billion dollar project will actually be completed has been questioned over the past few months, as the real estate market declines and funding becomes more difficult to find. Project architect Frank Gehry even went so far as to say that he didn't think the Yards would be built.
We've been getting mixed messages from Ratner's camp for years now, and while Ratner still claims that he's going to break ground in the coming months, I have my doubts (and honestly hope that his "soon" translates to "never"). What do you think? Are the Atlantic Yards dead?
Comments
I used to work at Gehry’s office on the Atlantic Yards Project. Ratner is a shrewd and motivated developer with less regard for Gehry’s expensive architecture. If Ratner continues to clear away the legal challenges to the AY project, then he still plans on building it, in some form or another. It’s much too early to call it dead. Remember that WDCH in LA took 13 years to complete – it only cost $375 million – Atlantic Yards could cost upward of $4 billion – might take a lot longer.