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| 9 DeKalb, from JDS |
That's a rather limited scope for a question, but not unsurprising given the generally boosterish tone of the article. The thin tower by JDS adjacent to Junior's and the Dime Savings Bank at Flatbush Avenue will rise 1,066 feet, more than double the height of the 512-foot Williamsburgh Savings Bank, which is no longer even the borough's tallest.
It would be far slimmer than the existing 600+ feet residential buildings, or the giant two-tower project proposed at 80 Flatbush , near BAM, rising up to 920 feet, or the floated--though not officially proposed--two-tower complex plan for Site 5 of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. From Emily Nonko:
So far, the tall, skinny towers designed by well-known New York architects, filled with condo apartments at record-setting prices, have been confined to Manhattan. This will be the first to debut in Brooklyn, something that’s not lost on the developer or architect.So that leads to some memorable quotes, the kind we might see if and when Site 5--surely with a new name, branded by Greenland Forest City Partners--gets approved.
“We see this as the crescendo of the skyline of Brooklyn,” says Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects, which was responsible for the Barclays Center revamp (and the less successful towers flanking it). He also managed that "badass" quote.
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| 9 DeKalb, from JDS |
The justification
Nonko allows that neighbors of the planned 80 Flatbush have objected to the scale--it is adjacent to be both a major avenue and also low-rise streets--and that some architecture critics consider such towers gilded cocoons. Still, she writes:
Tall buildings, however, can generally add to a city’s economic health and sustainability. “Density is a key factor in improving our impact on the environment. Both the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations have fallen in line with this thinking and very tall buildings are a necessary part of the way forward,” David Erdman, chair of Graduate Architecture and Urban Design at Pratt Institute, told The Bridge. “A key issue is how to make that density habitable, desirable and tenable.”While Erdman's right that context can change, and that the building's designed has been praised. But how towers that big aren't cheap to build--so, maybe not so "tenable." The 500+ very expensive apartments will be bought by very wealthy people, some of whom--as per the pattern in Manhattan--won't even live there.
It's hard to see that such a building will contribute enough supply to tackle the housing supply challenge. It's a trophy. But some defend the concept.
Kriston Capps in CityLab, writing in November 2014, contended There's Nothing to Fear From New York's Next Skyscraper Boom:
Economic success drives metropolitan movement, and in Midtown Manhattan, economic success at the global level is creating the conditions whereby many who are not billionaires stand to gain. Increasing the supply at the luxury level, even at the stratospheric level, can help workers and residents of many different classes to move on up. Filtering is one reason why no one should fear the skyscraper boom: Eventually, it can help create the conditions of a more affordable New York.Eventually... Even a major architecture firm like KPF, a designer of supertalls, recognizes this, writing:
...New York City still needs to find a way to tax these penthouses back down to Earth. Maybe the city should assess property taxes that ascend along a vertical axis. But the wrong lesson to take away from the developments in Midtown would be to prevent skyscrapers from turning up in other places.
In areas of the world with the highest growth and densification, “The challenge is not to hold down the first-tier cities, but to pick up the third-tier ones.” In light of this call, the supertall acts a ballast in the city; it’s the most notable building in a skyline of notable buildings. Its placement not only has visual impact, but where a supertall stands, can determine how a city grows because it will attract new populations and businesses.
for the The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, "the world’s leading resource for professionals focused on the inception, design, construction, and operation of tall buildings and future cities," Jason Barr wrote:
The resurgence in residential skyscraper construction is due, first, to increasing income inequality and the rising share of wealth going to the top 1% of society; and second from the perceived safety of Manhattan real estate investments by the international community. In large part, investments in the supertall luxury buildings have been by ultra-wealthy international investors, who both enjoy the cache [sic] of owning Manhattan real estate and who seek to invest their wealth outside of their home countries.
In CityLab, Richard Florida in January 2016 wrote The Relationship Between Skyscrapers and Great Cities, citing a study-co-written by Luís M. A. Bettencourt of the Santa Fe Institute:
What’s more, the new skyscrapers being built in New York and elsewhere have increasingly become places where the world’s super-rich park their money. Perhaps the best example is New York’s 432 Park Avenue, the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere, which was completed last year. These skyscrapers are fetching record prices as trophy properties for the one percent. “If buildings get too tall, construction costs become high, making floor space more expensive,” Bettencourt notes. Their infrequent occupancy also contributes to the dull, lights-out neighborhoods that dampen urban creativity and innovation. “You can read the intensity of socioeconomic life from a city’s skyline,” Bettencourt adds. “The virtue is in the middle,” in the mix of great neighborhoods and not-too-tall skyscrapers.Again, if the builder and architect and boosters want to argue for a trophy, that's one thing. But don't claim it's making Brooklyn affordable and sustainable. Wrote Adrian Smith 9/18/13 for DesignIntelligence, Tall, Global and Sustainable:
How tall is practical and affordable? Our research suggests that buildings of three-to-four stories are inherently the most cost efficient when factoring in land use and cost, cost of construction, efficiency of floor plates and efficiency of structure. Taller structures need mechanized vertical circulation, concrete or steel structures, mechanical, electrical and plumbing shafts and multiple exit ways which all effect net to grow efficiencies and add to the net cost per unit. Increased density however does add to the compactness of urban environments and this can create a number of social benefits that offset costs. Accessibility to goods and services, cultural events, communal spaces for human interaction, and a live-work environment accessible by walking is often the result of an appropriately scaled high-density area.Of course, the transportation and infrastructure needs of an urban environment support the argument for larger buildings. However, as he writes of supertalls:
Instead, the supertall is usually built for landmark status, either to give identity to the country, region or city within which it is built, or in some cases as a centerpiece for a large scale satellite city development.
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