Beleaguered $4.9B Atlantic Yards Sports Village Renamed 'Pacific Park Brooklyn'

The original name of the beleaguered 22-acre sports village in Brooklyn—a $4.9-billion development that overcame myriad lawsuits, years of controversy, an architect switch and the recession—has not survived. The controversial mixed-used project formerly known as Atlantic Yards is now called "Pacific Park Brooklyn."

The renaming comes two months after the formalization of the sale of 70 percent of the development—exclusive of the nearly two-year-old Barclays Center arena and the B2 Bklyn apartment building under construction—to Greenland USA, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Greenland Group Co., by Forest City Enterprises Inc., the parent company of the original developer Forest City Ratner Cos.

Greenland Forest City Partners also recently announced COOKFOX as the architect for two more residential high-rises at the site. GFCP expects construction of one building, which will have approximately 300 units, to begin in December. A construction start for the other, a 275-unit condominium, is planned for next June.

Nadine M. Post, ENR's former editor-at-large for buildings, is an award-winning journalist with 45 years of experience covering trends, issues, innovations, controversies and challenging projects. Post has written about many industry giants, including 10 ENR Award of Excellence winners. And she has covered disasters, failures and attacks, including the 1993 bombing and the 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center. Project stories include the redevelopment of the World Trade Center; the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa; Los Angeles’ Disney Concert Hall; and Seattle's Bullitt Center and Rainier Square Tower. In 1985, Post wrote McGraw-Hill's book Restoring the Statue of Liberty (1986) for the restoration’s architects—Richard S. Hayden and Thierry W. Despont.

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