At 32 stories, the B2 residential tower at Atlantic Yards near Brooklyn has been widely lauded as a bellwether for modular construction. But since construction started about 18 months ago, only five of the floors have been built—and developer Forest City Ratner Companies now has a Chinese partner that will move forward on the next three residential buildings, using conventional construction.
According to a report in the New York Times, Forest City Ratner's development partner, Greenland Holding Group, will now have a majority stake in the 22-acre Atlantic Yards mixed-use project. The Shanghai-based firm will oversee the next three residential tower projects, while Forest City Ratner continues to move forward with B2. Completion of the 348,000-sf modular tower, comprising 930 modules and 363 apartments, had been moved to late 2015, more than a year later than planned.
MaryAnne Gilmartin, Forest City Ratner's chief executive, says technical difficulties have been substantial, both at the nearby factory that's creating the modules and on the Atlantic Yards job site. “It’s been terribly frustrating," she told the New York Times. "But I don’t think this is a referendum on modular. The best way to prove that this works is to build B2.”
The Building Team for B2 includes Skanska, FC + Skanska Modular (a collaboration between Forest City Ratner and Skanska, which is building the components), SHoP, and Arup.
Related Stories
Market Data | Feb 7, 2024
New download: BD+C's February 2024 Market Intelligence Report
Building Design+Construction's monthly Market Intelligence Report offers a snapshot of the health of the U.S. building construction industry, including the commercial, multifamily, institutional, and industrial building sectors. This report tracks the latest metrics related to construction spending, demand for design services, contractor backlogs, and material price trends.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2024
Top 80 Religious Facility Architecture Firms for 2023
Parkhill, FGM Architects, GFF, Gensler, and HOK top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest religious facility architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Modular Building | Feb 6, 2024
Modular fire station allows for possible future reconfigurations
A fire station in Southern California leveraged prefab, modular construction for faster completion and future reconfiguration.
Giants 400 | Feb 5, 2024
Top 30 Entertainment Center, Cineplex, and Theme Park Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, JLL, Nelson Worldwide, AO, and Stantec top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest entertainment center, cineplex, and theme park architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Urban Planning | Feb 5, 2024
Lessons learned from 70 years of building cities
As Sasaki looks back on 70 years of practice, we’re also looking to the future of cities. While we can’t predict what will be, we do know the needs of cities are as diverse as their scale, climate, economy, governance, and culture.
Giants 400 | Feb 5, 2024
Top 90 Shopping Mall, Big Box Store, and Strip Center Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, Arcadis North America, Core States Group, WD Partners, and MBH Architects top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest shopping mall, big box store, and strip center architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Laboratories | Feb 5, 2024
DOE selects design-build team for laboratory focused on clean energy innovation
JE Dunn Construction and SmithGroup will construct the 127,000-sf Energy Materials and Processing at Scale (EMAPS) clean energy laboratory in Colorado to create a direct path from lab-scale innovations to pilot-scale production.
Architects | Feb 2, 2024
SRG Partnership joins CannonDesign to form 1,300-person design giant across 18 offices
SRG Partnership, a dynamic architecture, interiors and planning firm with studios in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, has joined CannonDesign. This merger represents not only a fusion of businesses but a powerhouse union of two firms committed to making a profound difference through design.
Giants 400 | Feb 1, 2024
Top 90 Restaurant Architecture Firms for 2023
Chipman Design Architecture, WD Partners, Greenberg Farrow, GPD Group, and Core States Group top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest restaurant architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Standards | Feb 1, 2024
Prioritizing water quality with the WELL Building Standard
In this edition of Building WELLness, DC WELL Accredited Professionals Hannah Arthur and Alex Kircher highlight an important item of the WELL Building Standard: water.
