The Empire State Development Corporation approved Forest City Ratner's amended, Frank Gehry-less plan for the Atlantic Yards yesterday, and the MTA's board of directors should approve the new sweetheart deal today. With all the Atlantic Yards action, new details about the arena and its 16 or so companion towers are coming to light. Here's a summary:
1) The MTA may be getting less money from Bruce Ratner to improve the rail yards, but the agency is finding other ways to milk him for cash. Forest City Ratner will pay $200,000 a year for the next 20 years for the naming rights to the Atlantic-Flatbush subway terminal in Downtown Brooklyn, and it will be named for the Barclays Center, though a specific title has yet to be worked out. Sensing outrage, an MTA board member said, "It's not like Taco Bell saying it wants Grand Army Plaza or something like that," before admitting he would welcome just such a deal. Trés classy! [NYT]
2) Despite dropping Gehry's Barclays Center design for a cheaper version, the total cost of Atlantic Yards has ballooned to $4.9 billion. The version of the plan approved by the ESDC in December 2006 was estimated at $4 billion. The new plan "anticipates the entire project will be completed by 2019, but leaves the door open to further delays." Sweet! [NYP]
3) While no new renderings of the new arena design or the towers were released by the ESDC, there is a new look at the arena entry point at the northwest corner of Atlantic Yards. The design (honey locust grove!) is by High Line landscapers Field Operations, indicating that the previous landscape designer, Laurie Olin, is on the outs. A Forest City spokesman told the Observer Olin's master plan is still in place. Looks like she's been Gehry'd. [NYO]
· Atlantic Yards coverage [Curbed]
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