Forest City's modular move seen as provoking much interest; still, until B2 is delivered, we won't know if projections will be met

A couple of quotes from Dana Rubinstein's Capital New York article earlier this week, New York moves into a modular construction phase:

“I don’t know why people think it was invented yesterday or that Forest City invented it,” said [Tom] O'Hara [director of business development at Capsys Corporation at the Brooklyn Navy Yard]. “It’s really nothing new. But the general public now knows about us. And that’s just been a huge difference for us.”

Since Forest City Ratner announced that it would build the first of its Atlantic Yards residential building, B2, using modular, O'Hara has seen "a surge of interest."

“I think the Forest City move into modular construction has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to us, quite honestly," he said.

Going forward

Then the question of the future: could modular solve "make a dent in New York City’s affordable housing crunch and, related, its stratospheric building costs?"

“Until the Forest City project is complete, it’s going to be difficult to know whether in fact it can be delivered at the projected cost savings and will achieve market acceptance,” said Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York City.

One previously unmentioned drawback:

Mods stacked on top of each other come with double ceilings and double walls. Unnecessary replication usurps precious space.

“Right now, we’re losing one floor,” said [Chris] Sharples [of SHoP], referring to B2.