When Barclays Center opens in 19 days, there will be a lot of celebration but there will also be a lot of questions about what's next. Bruce Ratner's original plan was for the Nets arena to be the centerpiece of the multi-billion dollar Atlantic Yards project with 16 towers of apartments, offices, retail space, even a hotel. Lawsuits and economics changed all that.
The first three apartment towers, of 33, 22 and 52 stories, still need financing before they can be built at the arena's eastern edge. Still, workers have been quietly building foundations for the first tower. Privately and publicly, Ratner and his partners express confidence that a new modular construction plan will make it easier for bankers to say yes and break ground by year's end. It's been delayed before but don't be surprised if there's announcement around the time the arena opens.
For Nets fans (and residents), that means more construction, more congestion at the arena, probably starting in mid-season and going on for the next three seasons.
- When Big Real-Estate Projects Stall - Eliot Brown - Wall Street Journal
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