Is the B5 tower, the first (of six) expected over the Vanderbilt Yard, just east of Sixth Avenue between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street, really on its way?
Well, permits have been filed for the 41-story, 397-foot 700 Atlantic Avenue, but it's hardly clear when construction would start, and to what extent work on the 682-unit tower will start before or contemporaneously with the platform over the yard needed to support it. (Here's the permit application.)
Developer Greenland Forest City Partners--95% owned by Greenland USA--declined comment in response to my query. But this pre-filing is a first step in a potentially long process, and it's possible they're planning ahead to get the attention of--and feedback from--the Department of Buildings (DOB).
Developer Greenland Forest City Partners--95% owned by Greenland USA--declined comment in response to my query. But this pre-filing is a first step in a potentially long process, and it's possible they're planning ahead to get the attention of--and feedback from--the Department of Buildings (DOB).
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| Click to enlarge. Design by Ben Keel; editing by Norman Oder |
News from YIMBY
The news broke yesterday in the pro-development blog New York YIMBY, which gave us a perplexing squib, Permits Filed For 41-Story Tower At 700 Atlantic Avenue In The Pacific Park Complex, with the text based on the site's generic approach to reading a Department of Buildings permit without drawing on much else:
The news broke yesterday in the pro-development blog New York YIMBY, which gave us a perplexing squib, Permits Filed For 41-Story Tower At 700 Atlantic Avenue In The Pacific Park Complex, with the text based on the site's generic approach to reading a Department of Buildings permit without drawing on much else:
Permits have been filed for a 41-story mixed-use building at 700 Atlantic Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Located between 6th Avenue and Carlton Avenue, the lot is one block from the Atlantic Avenue Barclays Center subway station... Greenland USA under the Pacific Park Development, LLC is listed as the owner behind the applications.
The proposed 397-foot-tall development will total 587,200 square feet, with 580,324 square feet designated for residential space and 4,362 square feet for commercial space. The building will have 682 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 850 square feet. The concrete-based structure will also have a cellar but no accessory parking.
Well, to the extent there's a cellar, it will have to be concentrated in a relatively small section of the site that's below-grade and doesn't interfere with Long Island Rail Road operations. As shown in the image below, there's an LIRR substation that must be protected, and an LIRR Access Ramp built into the site, while only two train tracks are part of the site.
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| B5 site, from developer's presentation at 3/15/19 Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation meeting |
What about the platform?
The platform over Block 1120, the western block of the two railyard blocks that will each support three towers, was supposed to start sometime this year and to take three years, according to a document I acquired.
While the developer has not publicly discussed building the platform in segments, another document I acquired described building the platform between Sixth and Carlton avenue in two segments, the first for the B5 tower, and the second for the B6 and B7 towers.
That's not implausible, given the significant start, as shown in the photo below, of concrete that that could support a platform.
The platform over Block 1120, the western block of the two railyard blocks that will each support three towers, was supposed to start sometime this year and to take three years, according to a document I acquired.
While the developer has not publicly discussed building the platform in segments, another document I acquired described building the platform between Sixth and Carlton avenue in two segments, the first for the B5 tower, and the second for the B6 and B7 towers.
That's not implausible, given the significant start, as shown in the photo below, of concrete that that could support a platform.
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| Looking north from Pacific Street. Photo: Norman Oder |
What's in the building?
Yes, most likely rentals because, um, they're not building condos any more.
Note that, as of a document filed with the state last September, developer Greenland Forest City Partners was predicting 650 units, not 682, with half of them (325) as affordable, with no information yet about the level of affordability.
The increase in total units seems of a piece with a general increase in units per building, most notably at the planned B12 and B13 towers, where condos were swapped for rentals. That allows the project to get to the require 2,250 affordable units faster.
The tower would be built at the maximum allowable height, 397 feet, while the planned 587,200 square feet may seem less than the maximum 635,443 gross square feet, but the latter may include space not used for residential or retail purposes.
No rendering has been released, but Dattner Architects has provided an image of the building shape, below.
The building, according to Schedule A, would have an "ACCESSORY FITNESS AMENITY"--a gym?--and a bike room with storage for 341 bikes, a significant number.
No rendering has been released, but Dattner Architects has provided an image of the building shape, below.
The building, according to Schedule A, would have an "ACCESSORY FITNESS AMENITY"--a gym?--and a bike room with storage for 341 bikes, a significant number.
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| Atlantic Avenue border in image at left; Pacific Street border in image at right. |
Here's my structural question - do they actually need to build a platform first and THEN put the building on top, or is the building's 'ground floor' essentially the platform for whatever the building is covering and they just need to extend that floor out the back to Pacific St (and cover with dirt)? Part of me feels like this building would be faster to build than the two under construction because they do not need to do months of excavation - the 'basement' (albeit unusable because of the tracks) is already there.
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