by Valerie Block,
Crain's New York Business
The first glimpses of the inside of the New Jersey Nets Barclays Center in Brooklyn will be available this fall, when developer and Nets owner Bruce Ratner opens a midtown showroom to sell luxury suites.
The Frank Gehry-designed suites will collectively generate tens of millions of dollars a year. The Nets say guests won't be able to pivot without hitting a flat-screen TV or an expansive spread of food and booze.
The showroom will be in The New York Times Co. building going up at 620 Eighth Ave., which made for an easy lease negotiation: Mr. Ratner is developing both projects. Potential buyers will see a model of one of the 118 suites with 16 seats. Twelve other suites between the locker rooms, where Jason Kidd et al. unwind, will have eight courtside seats.
"This sales center will show firsthand what the experience and amenities will be like at the Barclays Center," Mr. Ratner says.
If corporate New York plunks down the hefty fees to entertain clients across the East River, the cash would dwarf Mr. Ratner's legal expenses from lawsuits against the controversial Atlantic Yards project.
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