From the August issue: Pacific Park, developer Bruce Ratner’s baby, is now 13 years old. And like most teens, it’s going through a turbulent phase.
The 22-acre mixed-use megadevelopment, which borders five neighborhoods in Brooklyn, has been battered by a slew of internal and external troubles since its inception. When Ratner unveiled his plans for the arena-anchored project in December 2003, he claimed his firm, recently renamed Forest City New York, could complete it within a decade of winning government approval. In the years following, the development became embroiled in land seizure lawsuits, and in 2008 the market tanked. By mid-2014, Forest City had only completed the Barclays Center and had yet to complete a single apartment of its intended 6,430 rental and condominium units.