An interior rendering of the Barclays Center and Bruce Ratner

Investors, city officials and developer Bruce Ratner, CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, came together today to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Barclays Center at the Atlantic Yards development. The 18,000-seat arena, which will serve as the home of the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets, is expected to open in 2010. At the ceremony, Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the Barclays Center as “the first piece of what will be one of the largest private investments and job generators in Brooklyn’s history.” Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Governor David Paterson were equally effusive in their praise, describing the development as “a dream” and “a boon to Brooklyn,” respectively. The arena, which is being designed by the Ellerbe Becket and ShoP Architects firms, is also expected to host upwards of 200 events annually, including concerts and non-NBA basketball games. Clarification: these comments were released in advance of the ceremony and were the planned statements of the individuals quoted. TRD

The Nets basketball team released renderings of the new Barclays Center interior today, designed by Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects. The 18,000-seat arena in Downtown Brooklyn will also include luxury suites, currently available for sale. See slide show above for images.

A long, circuitous and, some say, torturous path remains for Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner Companies until the project can begin construction. After six years of planning and maneuvers, including ditching starchitect Frank Gehry and snagging funds from an eccentric Russian billionaire with a legendary penchant for basketball, sources say that the developer has already sunk $300 million into the project. The polarizing Ratner told Crain’s that while one of the biggest points of contention on the project is his lack of transparency with his plans, he doesn’t see the need to remedy the situation. “Why should people get to see plans?” Ratner said. “This isn’t a public project. We will follow the guidelines,” such as land use regulations.

Yesterday the office of Bruce Ratner, Atlantic Yards developer and Forest City Ratner Companies CEO, released renderings of a new design for the stadium he hopes to develop at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. As so often in New York, it represents an odd, even cynical, compromise. You may recall that the original stadium, a shimmering and iconic titanium mirage, was designed by Frank Gehry. Immediately controversial and expensive, it divided New York between those who opposed it in the name of preserving Brooklyn’s small-town spirit and those who loudly endorsed it in the name of progressive architecture. All of that was rendered moot, however, when Gehry was unceremoniously fired from the development back in June. Whatever one thought of his design — and some of us thought very little of it — at least it had guts and personality to spare. (See rendering of the new space after the jump.) [more]

Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner has hired architecture firm SHoP to assist in designing the Nets basketball arena planned for the project, a source informed of the decision told the New York Observer. Forest City Ratner dropped starchitect Frank Gehry from the project in early June, hiring design firm Ellerbe Becket to complete the arena. SHoP, which has been hired for design projects including a remake of South Street Seaport and an East River esplanade, will be assisting Ellerbe. [more]

The New York Post looks at renderings of the Atlantic Yards project commissioned by the Municipal Art Society. Since project developer Bruce Ratner has not yet released new renderings reflecting many of the changes made to the project, including the replacement of starchitect Frank Gehry with Ellerbe Becket and the cancellation of Gehry’s design for the project’s arena, MAS commissioned renderings based on a few Becket designs that have been released. In the renderings, only the arena and two residential towers are shown, with temporary parking surrounding them. The MAS said it only portrayed two of 16 planned towers in the renderings because the project’s financing is uncertain. The Empire State Development Corporation is holding public hearings tomorrow and Thursday on Ratner’s scaled-back proposal for the project. [more]

Forest City Ratner’s chief executive, Bruce Ratner, told senior members of the Bloomberg administration that the Atlantic Yards arena renderings leaked to the media last month were premature, Crain’s New York Business reported. Architecture firm Ellerbe Becket, brought onto the project to provide a less expensive alternative to Frank Gehry’s $1 billion design, proposed a $772 million arena. City Planning Commission chair Amanda Burden expressed disapproval of Becket’s design. [more]

Frank Gehry has been replaced as the architect for the arena at Atlantic Yards.

Starchitect Frank Gehry will no longer be the architect for the Barclays Center, the arena at Atlantic Yards, as per an agreement between Gehry Partners and Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner, according to a press release from the two companies. Forest City Ratner has instead hired architectural firm Ellerbe Becket, which has designed basketball arenas in Charlotte and Memphis, to design the arena and cited the economy as the reason for the switch. “The current economic climate is not right for this design, and with Frank’s understanding [of the change], the arena is undergoing a redesign that will make it more limited in scope,” Forest City Chairman and CEO Bruce Ratner said in a statement. Forest City has struggled to finance the Atlantic Yards project as the recession has continued. TRD [more]

Ellerbe Becket’s Charlotte (left) and Memphis stadiums

Missouri-based architectural firm Ellerbe Becket has been hired to help
implement cost-cutting measures for Frank Gehry’s $800 million dollar
stadium plans at the Atlantic Yards, a Forest City Ratner spokesperson
said yesterday. Ellerbe Becket is known for designs that are more cost
efficient and practical. The firm, which has designed basketball arenas
for the NBA in Charlotte and Memphis, is slated to complete its
reevaluation of Gehry’s plans by July. Ratner will then determine
whether Gehry will stay on as the master architect of the Atlantic
Yards project, which in addition to a sports arena, will also feature
16 commercial and residential towers. [more]