NEW YORK (BROOKLYN) | CUNY/Residential tower | CANCELLED

[Jularc]

Here is an old article I found...


CUNY, Ratner, Renzo Piano To Build New Tower
New Building at Tillary and Jay will be Front Entrance to MetroTech





By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
published online 09-22-2006

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Attracting world-class architects to Brooklyn is not a new concept these days, but Forest City Ratner’s surprise announcement yesterday of a brand new tower for Downtown Brooklyn added one more name to that growing list.

As is known, Frank Gehry is designing the Atlantic Yards development, Enrique Norten is designing the Performing Arts Library at BAM, Rafael Vinoly is designing the Brooklyn Children’s Museum addition and Richard Meier is designing the all-glass building On Prospect Park at 1 Eastern Parkway.

Yesterday we learned from Forest City’s MaryAnne Gilmartin that Italian architect Renzo Piano — best known recently for his designs of the new New York Times building and the renovated and expanded Morgan Library — is designing the new tower proposed for the New York City Technical College (CUNY) campus at Tillary and Jay Streets.

Gilmartin was speaking at the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Appraisal Institute’s annual September Conference held Wednesday at Club 101 in Manhattan.

Why is Forest City Ratner involved with City Tech, as it is called? The tower will also be the official front entrance to the MetroTech Center, according to Gilmartin.

“We are building a very tall, beautiful and slender tower,” she said, adding that it will be 800,000 square feet, will be completed in 2011 and will have a residential component above the academic component at its base. Gilmartin could not discuss details of the tower’s design and ultimate height, however.

The site is that of the existing two-story Klitgord Center on the southeast corner of Tillary and Jay. The Klitgord, also known as the Klitgord Auditorium, will be demolished to make way for the new tower. Reached yesterday afternoon, Michelle Forsten, a spokesperson for City Tech, as it is called, confirmed that there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CUNY, Forest City Ratner and the New York State Dormitory Authority (the funding agent), which is expected to be executed by all parties this fall.

Forsten also said the mixed-use building, which is officially within the MetroTech Center complex, will include classrooms and offices for faculty members, and will house several different academic disciplines.

“We are very excited because we are so overcrowded now and we need all the space we can get,” she said.

Forsten did not say, but it could be assumed that the new tower is possibly related to the news reported this summer of a major academic reorganization at City Tech.

Announced in August, this reorganization has resulted in the establishment this fall of four new independent academic departments — Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Entertainment Technology.

“In the last few years, City Tech has hired several top-notch faculty members in the sciences who are conducting cutting edge research,” said Acting Dean of Arts and Sciences Pamela Brown, in making the announcement. “The time is right to form three separate science departments, which will help to develop fields of specialization in research as well as foster the development of new curriculum in these areas of rapid technological advance.”

Commented City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler, “This reorganization will position City Tech to continue attracting accomplished faculty who will share their considerable expertise with our students in the classrooms and labs and as mentors.”


© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2006

[gttx]

Wow - great looking tower. Why is the ESB so close to it (reflection)?

[Scruffy]

the reflection is wrong. tower looks great. its much taller than i ever imagined for BK. i thought downtown BK had a 400ft height limit.

[Dac150]

I like that the boom is not limited to just Manhattan.

[Crawford]

CUNY greenlighted this project two years ago. The MOU was signed this fall.

It is approved and will be U/C in a few months.

[Dac150]

Originally Posted by Crawford

CUNY greenlighted this project two years ago. The MOU was signed this fall.

It is approved and will be U/C in a few months.

That's good to hear. Hopefully buildings of this height in Brooklyn will be a growing trend.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Scruffy

the reflection is wrong. tower looks great. its much taller than i ever imagined for BK. i thought downtown BK had a 400ft height limit.

It doesn't.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Jularc

Don't like the side, but its actually better than the Times tower.

[Dale]

If BK has no height cap, why did Atlantic Yards scale down ?

[Alliance]

[edited by moderation]

[Antares41]

Wow! that going to be a skyline defining building for Brooklyn.

[vaporvr6]

this is like two blocks away from me. i'm psyched.

[Antares41]

To Dale's question:

Atlantic Yard is closer to highly dense residential areas. The opposition to it in general was fierce and remains unabated to this day. The height reduction of the tallest building was a minor concession by Ratner in an attempt to placated the community. Of course it did not work because what they really wanted was no development on the scale that Ratner was proposing.

DT Brooklyn is undergoing so much development that it easy for the height of some of these proposed buildings fly under the radar screen.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by Antares41

To Dale's question:

Atlantic Yard is closer to highly dense residential areas. The opposition to it in general was fierce and remains unabated to this day. The height reduction of the tallest building was a minor concession by Ratner in an attempt to placated the community. Of course it did not work because what they really wanted was no development on the scale that Ratner was proposing.

DT Brooklyn is undergoing so much development that it easy for the height of some of these proposed buildings fly under the radar screen.

That's what I suspected. Thanks for the explanation.

[Fabb]

I counted 65 floors.
I can't believe it !

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Dale

If BK has no height cap, why did Atlantic Yards scale down ?

They didn't want it to be taller than the Williamsburgh Bank building. There are already plans for taller buildings.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11282007...lyn_720270.htm

TALL ORDER IN B'KLYN

By RICH CALDER
November 28, 2007

Say hello to "Mr. Brooklyn."

Despite having to shave more than 100 feet off his planned Atlantic Yards tower dubbed "Miss Brooklyn," mega-developer Bruce Ratner could still wind up with the borough's tallest building.

Preliminary renderings of another Ratner building - the proposed "City Tech Tower" on Downtown Brooklyn's Jay Street feature a design by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano showing a massive structure - which some online estimates yesterday put at 1,000 feet tall.

One image supplied by France-based Artefactory of the little-known plan even shows the reflection of the Empire State Building on City Tech Tower's glass-and-steel façade.

While the developer's Forest City Ratner Companies declined to comment on the specifics, a spokesman said estimates of the height "were way off base."

Sources familiar with the project say they expect it to top off at around 700 feet - which would still far exceed the 512-foot Williamsburg Savings Bank tower in Fort Greene as the borough's tallest building.

A year ago, Ratner agreed to trim the height of "Miss Brooklyn" from 620 feet to 511 feet to guarantee political support for the massive $4 billion NBA arena/residential/commercial space complex in Prospect Heights.

City Tech Tower, which is not part of Atlantic Yards, would hold 600 market-rate apartments, office space for New York City Technical College and retail space, city documents show. The tower would also serve as the new front entrance for Ratner's MetroTech office complex. Construction is expected to be complete in 2011.

A 2004 rezoning for Downtown Brooklyn allowed for unlimited height restrictions along a 20-block stretch of its commercial core, and as the Post previously reported, at least one other mixed-use project, called "City Point" is also expected to tower over the Williamsburg Savings Bank site.

City Point would bring 900 apartments and 600,000 square feet of retail to the former Albee Square Mall site. Several sources said they expected City Point to edge out Ratner's project as the tallest tower but said that could change when final plans are submitted.

Ratner spokesman Loren Riegelhaupt said the developer "is very excited about the project's potential but we are in the beginning phases and can't discuss specifics." He said the renderings were preliminary and not authorized to be released.

Joseph Chan, who heads the city's Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, said he is "excited" that Piano is the latest critically acclaimed architect to sign on to contribute to downtown Brooklyn's new skyline – joining a list that includes Frank Gehry, who is designing Atlantic Yards.

In Downtown Brooklyn, some shoppers had mixed reactions about the planned tower.

Joseph Amadano, a 43-year-old banker, said the project would be a big boost to City Tech while helping alleviate the Big Apple's housing shortage.

"I'm sure a lot of professionals working in MetroTech will be vying to move here," he said.

But Lisa Gerringer, a 28-year-old actress, said she believes this project is all about Ratner looking to get back some of the cash he lost by agreeing to lower the height of "Miss Brooklyn."

"It's like this is his new ‘Mr. Brooklyn,' and I'm sorry but I have a real problem with just how high a lot of these buildings in the downtown are being allowed to go," she added.

[NYguy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007...ld_be_b-1.html

Proposed 1,000 foot skyscraper would be Brooklyn's tallest structure



The proposed City Tech Tower would be the tallest building in Brooklyn.


BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM
November 28th 2007

Here's a building that's high on Brooklyn.

Developer Bruce Ratner has plans to build a skyscraper downtown that could eclipse the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, making it Brooklyn's tallest structure.

The City Tech Tower by Italian architect Renzo Piano would rise up to 1,000 feet tall, by some estimates, on Jay St. and include a mix of residential, commercial and office space for New York City College of Technology.

Artist's renderings for the tower, which is separate from Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards project, may not reflect the developer's current vision for the building, sources said.

But even a modified version would likely be taller than the bank, they said.

"This model is an old model," said Forest City Ratner spokesman Loren Riegelhaupt, who said a height for the building has not been decided. "It's an early rendering and not a reflection of what we're considering today."

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Joe Chan praised the plan to build in the area, but insisted the renderings, which were leaked to the Internet, were nearly a year old and would likely change.

"The combination of Renzo Piano, one of the world's most celebrated architects, and Forest City Ratner is extraordinarily exciting for us," said Chan. "It promises not only to be a dynamic addition to the skyline, but also a project that will further enhance downtown Brooklyn."

Piano designed The New York Times' new building in Manhattan.

However, City Councilwoman Letitia James (Working Families Party-Brooklyn) reiterated her position that no new construction should be higher than the Williamsburgh Savings building.

[Dac150]

1,000'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is too cool.

[Matty]

This has definite promise. Let's hope the newer versions are little more edgy in terms of design.