SHoP to design first AY apartment building

SHoP principal Gregg Pasquarelli and a rendering of Dean Street, site of the future AY apartment building

Forest City Ratner has tapped architectural firm ShoP to design B2, the first apartment building planned for Atlantic Yards, along Dean Street, the Observer reported. When SHoP principal Gregg Pasquarelli unveiled new designs in September For The Public Plaza at the foot of the Barclays Center Arena, he said he would love to design some of the project’s buildings. At Tuesday’s Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable, Forest City Ratner executive vice president MaryAnne Gilmartin emphasized the affordable housing elements of the company’s master plan for the 22-acre Atlantic Yards site, calling it “one of the more ambitious” affordable housing initiatives the city has seen, The Real Deal reported. An official groundbreaking has still not been set, partly because the project is still searching for financing, and according to the Observer, SHoP’s selection and its design work should further help Forest City Ratner secure funding. Yesterday, the city revealed renderings for the first phase of Hunters Point South, being developed by the Related Companies,
where SHoP will be designing the two apartment towers and a school along with Ishmael Leyva. SHoP is also working on plans for a large mixed-use housing complex at the South Street Seaport for developer Bill Ackman. [NYO]