Forest City Ratner Companies and Greenland USA, a subsidiary of the Shanghai-based Greenland Group Co., announced that their new joint venture, named Greenland Forest City Partners, has selected COOKFOX to design two residential buildings at its project in Brooklyn.
Greenland Forest City Partners has also selected Thomas Balsley Associates to design the public park, which will be known as Pacific Park.
In addition, the joint venture announced that it has chosen Pacific Park Brooklyn as the new name for the Atlantic Yards project, highlighting the borough’s newest open space. Pacific Street aligns with the center of the project site, connecting it to the rest of Brooklyn.
The design team has been tasked with creating a permanent eight acre Public Park for Brooklyn with permanent and temporary installations.
COOKFOX has already begun the design work on the next two residential buildings.[slideshow id=342]
535 Carlton Avenue, which will have approximately 300 units at Carlton Avenue and Dean Street, will be 100 percent affordable rental and provide homes for low, moderate and middle income New Yorkers.
550 Vanderbilt Avenue will contain approximately 275 units at Vanderbilt Avenue and Dean Street and will be a condominium building. Construction on 535 Carlton is expected to commence this December with construction on 550 Vanderbilt beginning soon thereafter.
SHoP Architects will design 30 Sixth Avenue, a 100 percent affordable rental building with approximately 300 units on the arena block.
Construction on 30 Sixth Avenue is expected to begin in June 2015. SHoP Architects also designed Barclays Center and 461 Dean Street, which is currently under construction.
MaryAnne Gilmartin, president and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies and president of Greenland Forest City Partners, said,
“While we just closed with our partner Greenland USA, we have been working collaboratively for many months in anticipation of breaking ground on three new buildings over the next year.
“We understand greatly the need to bring housing to market quickly, especially affordable housing, and are very excited by the preliminary designs generated by our new partner, COOKFOX and Thomas Balsley Associates. Like SHoP’s work on the arena block, COOKFOX appreciates the need to contextualize these buildings to create a great sense of place while also complementing the neighborhoods that they will join.
“We were looking for Brooklyn sensibility that could combine park space, interesting materials, scale and an appreciation of nature within an urban environment. The early design work does that wonderfully.”
I-Fei Chang, CEO & President of Greenland USA and CEO of Greenland Forest City Partners, said, “We are excited to invest in Brooklyn, a borough with so much cultural vibrancy and at a location that is an intersection for so many communities.
“We know that there is growing demand among families for additional housing and we want to help meet that demand. We’re also thrilled that we’ll be moving forward on the design of a beautiful park that anyone in the city will be able to use.
“As we look toward putting shovels in the ground to begin these projects, we are proud to set forth milestones which we believe will set a precedent for future development in the City.”
Chang and Gilmartin will co-lead Greenland Forest City Partners.Since 2003, COOKFOX has designed a range of residential, commercial and public spaces including One Bryant Park, City Point in Downtown Brooklyn, the Steven Sondheim Theater and Historic Front Street.
Richard Cook, founder and partner at COOKFOX, said, “After walking the site, from the civic anchor of Barclays Center to the vibrant neighborhood corner of Dean and Vanderbilt, the two buildings at 535 Carlton and 550 Vanderbilt, in our opinion, are the most important sites. These buildings must embrace the responsibility of making the transition in scale from the existing, tree canopied streets of the neighborhood, to the urban bookends that bracket the new, public Pacific Park.”
Gregg Pasquarelli, a Principal at SHoP Architects, said, “We are very excited about finishing our design work on 30 Sixth Avenue. COOKFOX is a great addition to this project. We’ve long hoped that a diversity of design would create a truly unique feel for this community.”
All of the design work will be done in compliance with the specifications laid out in the approved master plan that was developed by Frank Gehry.
