Construction at the residential building rising next to the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn could be stalled indefinitely. No visible progress has been made since the construction company, Skanska USA, terminated its contract with the site's developer, a Forest City Ratner Companies subsidiary, two weeks ago.
The planned 32-story tower was being constructed using prefabricated, or modular, design. The modules were assembled at a factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, then put together at the site by more than 100 workers. So far, only 10 stories have been finished. The finished building was to have contained 363 rental apartments, half of which were to have been set aside as affordable for low-, moderate- and middle-income families.
In its 146-page termination letter, Skanska detailed numerous delays and design deficiencies that it said Forest City failed to address, contributing to its decision to pull out of the project.
"We could not continue to incur millions of dollars in extra costs with little hope that Forest City would take responsibility for fixing the significant commercial and design issues on the project," said Richard Kennedy, Skanska USA building co-chief operating officer.
In court papers, Skanska said the design errors could affect how parts of the building are lining up and may result in leaks.
Forest City contends that issues with the building stem from faulty implementation by Skanska USA, which it said reviewed the plans and intellectual property for 10 months before deciding to sign on to the project.
“We believe in modular and have worked tirelessly to get [the building] back on track since Skanska blind-sided us last month by ceasing construction and putting 157 workers on the street," said MaryAnne Gilmartin, president and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies.
The ambitious plan was to have resulted in one of the tallest buildings in the world designed using modular construction techniques.
Julian Bowron, a modular builder, went to visit the site this past July, prior to the lawsuits and swirling controversy surrounding the building.
"You could already see this problem emerging and that was when the building was only at about the fifth floor," said Bowron, who is the president of Vectorbloc, which has its own patent-pending modular building design system. "So you would see a façade panel that would be an inch or so to one side, and then the next floor up, the façade panel would be a further inch to that side."Bowron lacks access to Skanska or Forest City's internal documents, and admits he made his observations only after an external review of the building.
Bowron offered his services to Forest City, but the company declined.
A spokesman for Forest City, Jeremy Soffin, said Bowron is using the media to sell his product, and that no professional would claim to inspect an incomplete building.
Forest City said the building is capped with a temporary roof that prevents any additional water penetration.
The tower, the first and only one to break ground at Pacific Park, was supposed to have been completed in July. (The project was originally named Atlantic Yards.)
Forest City maintains it will complete the tower, but has no new completion date
"We will continue to rigorously pursue our options through the courts to get [the building] built," said Gilmartin.
Empire State Development Corporation, a state agency sponsoring the project, said it continues to monitor progress on the construction of the building. In an email, the agency said it has instructed Forest City and Skanska to address any issues, including potential leakage, that may have occurred at the site.
A disclosure: Forest City Ratner Chief Executive MaryAnne Gilmartin is a board member of the New York Public Radio Board of Trustees.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of units in the first tower at Pacific Park. The article also revised to more accurately characterize the business relationship between Vectorbloc president Julian Bowron's and Forest City Ratner.