Forest City Breaks Ground on Third Atlantic Yards Affordable Housing Tower, as Promised

We ran over for a quick peek yesterday evening at the construction site of the latest Atlantic Yards tower to break ground, at 38 6th Avenue next to Barclays Center in Prospect Heights. This week, Greenland Forest City Partners started construction on the 100 percent affordable housing tower, Forest City announced yesterday.

Peering through a hole in the green construction fence, we could see a little big of digging for the foundation had started on the cleared site. That little bit of digging is important, because without it, Forest City would have had to pay the City a fine of as much as $5,000,000.

Forest City was forced to start construction on this 100 percent affordable tower by the end of this month, according to an agreement it signed one year ago with the City after de Blasio took office, as we reported at the time. Concerned about the lengthy delays in construction of affordable housing in the project, which is now known as Pacific Park, the City made Forest City agree to deliver all the affordable housing in the development by 2025.

Previously known as B3, 38 6th Avenue is the fifth building of at least 16 planned in the gigantic and highly controversial Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park development to break ground since the project was approved in 2006. (The others are Barclays Center, which opened in 2012, and three other apartment buildings now under construction, including two with affordable housing.) See the map below for more details.

The tower, as we have reported, will rise 23 stories with a total of 341,595 square feet. It will have 305 apartments spread across 321,337 square feet of residential space; commercial square footage will total 20,000.

The development will also have 73 subterranean parking spots and a medical facility on the second floor. It’s in the same block as Barclays and nestled right up against the stadium, on the northwest corner of Dean Street and 6th Avenue.

SHoP is the architect of record on the project. Check out the previously published rendering of the firm’s design below.

Little information has been released about the affordable housing component so far, but Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park watchdog and critic Norman Oder predicts rents and eligibility will be relatively high, aimed at households making more than $100,000 a year.

Next in the construction pipeline is a market-rate condo building a block away on Dean Street, known as B13. It will break ground next month.

Atlantic Yards Coverage [Brownstoner]
Rendering by SHoP; map by Atlantic Yards Report