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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

AY down the memory hole: B4 had a lot more gyrations than reported

From Curbed NY yesterday, in 6 crucial ways New York City’s landscape will change in 2019, included Pacific Park among one of the six categories, which was megaprojects:
The 22-acre Pacific Park, Brooklyn’s very own rail yard-topping megaproject, will soon see the rise of its tallest building, a 500-foot plus rental tower at 18 Sixth Avenue (or B4, for those who closely follow the project.) The tower, originally planned as an office building, was switched up for more residential space in early 2018. Developer Greenland Forest City Partners will continue working into 2019 on the platform that will allow Pacific Park’s remaining development to move forward.
This is another example of what I call "AY down the memory hole," when either the clip file is incorrect or misinterpreted, and no one knows better.

First, though it would be aspirational to call Pacific Park "Brooklyn’s very own rail yard-topping megaproject," the crucial thing is that nothing is topping the railyard, since it awaits that platform. (One piece of the below-grade yard had the railyard functions removed, and it sits below part of the Barclays Center. Below 18 Sixth is also part of the former railyard.)

Also, while it's not completely inaccurate to say that B4 was "originally planned as an office building, [but] was switched up for more residential space in early 2018," that leaves out a lot.

All the towers around the arena were originally planned to be office buildings when Atlantic Yards was announced in 2003. By 2005, however, most of that office space had been swapped for residential.

As of August 2014, as shown in the below map prepared by developer Greenland Forest City Partners, B4 was scheduled to contain residential units: rentals and condos.


However, by March 2016, B4 was being planned as a "substantial commercial project," which would've required a revision of the state's General Project Plan. By April 2016, developer Greenland Forest City Partners was trying to sell, in full or in part, not just B4 but also B12 and B13.

By July 2017, they were no longer being actively marketed. By January 2018, as Greenland USA bought out nearly all of Forest City's 30% share in the project going forward, it was announced that B4 would be residential. That apparently came after Downtown Brooklyn--with B4 among the possible sites--was out of consideration for Amazon's new campus.

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