Bruce Ratner, chairman of Forest City Ratner

Bruce Ratner, head of Forest City Ratner, developer of arguably Brooklyn’s most controversial development ever, sat down with the Times and told them, among other things, that the Atlantic Yards will be completed on time, that pre-fab construction is a great way to make housing construction more affordable and that after 2015, he’d like the Islanders to come to the sports arena.

“There is no winning,” Ratner said, in reference to the debate about whether the Atlantic Yards project will offer enough affordable housing. “And that’s ok.” [more]

Forest City Ratner CEO Bruce Ratner and Barclays' main concourse

Before Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner can plan the arena’s debut Jay Z concert slated for September 2012, he’s planning the concessions for the arena, Gothamist reported.

“We are committed to bringing the best of Brooklyn to Barclays Center and to draw on the borough’s dynamic food scene,” Ratner, who’s the chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner, said in a statement. “Our goal is [to] cast a wide net to make Barclays Center’s culinary experience as quintessentially Brooklyn as it gets.” [more]

From left: Bruce Ratner, Zehy Jereis and Carl Kruger

Though not charged with any crimes, Bruce Ratner has found himself a prominent role in recent corruption cases involving Yonkers and Brooklyn politicians, a New York Times columnist said, thanks largely to his maneuvering for approval for two massive developments.

Ratner has hired a mix of former politicians, political consultants and lobbyists to obtain approval and funding for his Atlantic Yards project and a less-publicized, 81-acre luxury residential and retail complex he’s trying to build in Yonkers called Ridge Hill. [more]

Developer Bruce Ratner and a rendering of the Atlantic Yards building (credit: Shop Architects)Now that Bruce Ratner has decided to go the less labor-intensive, prefabricated route with the majority of his Atlantic Yards development site, union laborers are scrambling to save whatever jobs they can. According to the Brooklyn Paper, they have agreed to take massive pay cuts in order to guarantee union jobs for the massive construction complex.

While it could not determine the exact amount of money lost to laborers, the Brooklyn Paper noted that carpenters, who make as much as $90 an hour in wages and benefits at traditional construction sites, typically rake in just $30 per hour when working inside prefabricated production factories. [more]

Developer Bruce Ratner and a rendering of the Atlantic Yards building (credit: Shop Architects)

Developer Bruce Ratner unveiled the design this morning for what may be the world’s tallest prefabricated steel structure, the New York Times reported, a 32-story residential building slated for Atlantic Yards next year.

Ratner has invested two years in the study of modular construction, a technique which is untested at this height. If he goes ahead with the plans, he could cut construction costs by as much as 25 percent, the Times said. Construction is slated to begin on the building in early 2012.

The use of modular technology would mean 60 percent of the construction would take place in a factory, where approximately 1,000 steel-frame modules would be made. The modules would then be transported to the site, where they’d be fitted together. [more]

Seven construction workers will sue developer Bruce Ratner today, the New York Daily News reported, claiming he failed to deliver on jobs he promised them at Atlantic Yards in an effort to gain community approval for the controversial project.

The workers say they enrolled in Ratner’s training program for construction workers on the project, weren’t fully compensated for the work they performed during the training and afterwards were offered jobs in maintenance, a nearby health club and a McDonald’s.

James Caldwell, the head of one of the training programs bankrolled by Ratner and a defendant in the suit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court, said the trainees were never guaranteed construction work [more]

The Bloomberg administration has withdrawn its controversial plans to permit developer Bruce Ratner to transform land in the Mill Basin part of Brooklyn into a shopping mall, A Walk in the Park blog reported, announcing the withdrawal on the Office of Environmental Coordination’s website.

“The Four Sparrow Marsh Retail Center at Mill Basin project has been withdrawn as of September 2011,” the announcement said.

Ratner had planned to transform 15 acres of Four Sparrow Marsh to into a shopping site. There was reportedly speculation that the project was stalled by an investigation into alleged corruption on the part of Senator Carl Kruger, who designated funds for the development (note: correction appended). [more]

Developer Bruce Ratner and a rendering of the exhibition by ArtBridge

Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project has not always been popular among Brooklynites. Perhaps trying to soften the image of the development, his company Forest City Ratner has now teamed up with a non-profit arts organization to bring something other than construction noise to the neighborhood.

The Chelsea-based non-profit, ArtBridge, is set to transform 2,500 feet of construction fencing at the perimeter of the Atlantic Yards site into an open air art gallery, it announced today.

ArtBridge, which is best known for transforming construction sites such as at London Terrace in Chelsea into public exhibition space for local artists, will bring “Works in Progress,” an exhibit of the works of 20 Brooklyn artists to the site starting Oct. 20 and running through March, 2012. – Katherine Clarke [more]

Promised to be a driver of the Park Slope, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill economy, the Atlantic Yards construction project has retail landlords salivating but is leaving developers and residents wary, the New York Post reported.

The Barclays Center, which will open next September, is driving up retail rents in the area. Many landlords have allowed leases to expire and spaces to stay vacant in recent years in anticipation of higher rents sure to come with the new arena. Retail rents in the area range from $85 to $175 per square foot, with the high-end marking the top of Brooklyn pricing. [more]

One of the main opponents of Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yard’s project is now under fire himself for construction work he plans to do his Park Slope home, the New York Daily News reported.

Daniel Goldstein, co-founder of the activist group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, got a $3 million settlement from Ratner to move out his Prospect Heights condominium last year. But since then, he has bought a new house in Park Slope for $812,000. His new neighbor, Kathryn Roake, said that his plans for an 18-foot, three-story addition to the back of his building will block the light to her fruit and vegetable garden. [more]