Forest City Ratner President and CEO Bruce C. Ratner provided a detailed presentation of his proposed Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn at a Construction Industry Breakfast Forum in March. The project, which gained momentum when Ratner won the right to purchase the New Jersey Nets basketball franchise, is intended to provide a new home for the team as well as new housing, office and retail space for the borough.

During his remarks at the Forum, co-sponsored by the New York Building Congress and New York Construction, Ratner called on those in attendance to support the $2.5 billion mixed-use project. “There is no way I would ever be here today if not for working collaboratively with all of you in this room. I think that together we have a voice in this town, and with you, we can make this project a reality.”

While the proposed 19,000 square foot arena at the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues has garnered the most attention, Ratner said the development's residential and commercial components were necessary to make the plan economically viable. To that end, the Atlantic Yards is slated to include 4,500 residential units, 2.1 million square feet of office space and 3.1 million square feet of retail, as well as open space and parking.

Construction of the arena is expected to begin late this year and be completed in 2006. According to Ratner, construction of the rest of the project elements will be completed in phases over the next decade. Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson said, “By combining so many integrated components within one well-designed project, Forest City Ratner will add considerably to the Borough of Brooklyn and the entire City. This includes $2.5 billion in total development activity, 15,000 union construction jobs, 10,000 permanent jobs, and badly-needed housing. All of this will generate significant tax benefits for the City together with an enormous civic boost in an area of New York that has not had comparable investment for many decades.”