NoLandGrab NoLandGrab's List: SHoP

New renderings are expected to be unveiled before state officials take a final vote on the project on Sept. 17, but will come too late for borough residents to chime in with formal comments about the project.

The public comment period closed at the end of August.

News of the new firm, which also designed a flashy glass building addition for the Fashion Institute of Technology, comes as the developer is scrambling to sell $650 million in tax exempt bonds, beat back a court challenge and break ground by a Dec. 31 deadline.

Ratner's Sixth Arena Design to be Released on Wednesday. The Rest of Atlantic Yards? Don't Ask.

Curbed : The New York City neighborhoods and real estate blog

Developer uce Ratner revealed the latest design for his proposed new Nets arena in Prospect Heights Wednesday, part of a controversial project that also includes 16 residential and office towers.

Nets Reveal Plans for a Spaceship in New York City

--Still, perhaps because the design was produced rather quickly -- SHoP has been on the job only since June -- the arena seems to sag deflatedly from certain angles, rather like a basketball needing some air, which can hardly be the kind of architectural symbolism the Nets were hoping for.

Cheaper Nets Arena Design Unveiled As Brooklyn Move Reaches Critical Moment

Atlantic Yards Developer Unveils New Arena Plans | NY1 News delivers comprehensive coverage of New York City politics, as well as breaking news and features." /><link href="http://media.ny1.com:80/media/2009/9/9/images/newrenderc5b34552-3bcc-4e6f-8901-8de248d2d176.jpg" rel="image_src" /><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="/RadControls/Panelbar/Scripts/4_3_5/panelbar.css" /><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="/RadControls/Panelbar/Skins/Plain/styles.css

Shop has wrapped it in an appealing rust-colored steel skin, which will make it less harsh on the eye.

But it still falls short of the high architectural standards set by the design the city was originally promised. And too many questions remain unanswered about the overall plan — in particular, when and whether Mr. Ratner’s company, Forest City Ratner, will ever build the surrounding buildings, and, assuming it does, who will design them. Without them the cohesion of the original plan falls apart.

Times Critic Ouroussoff Happier With New Arena Design But Displeased With Atlantic Yards

The Times architecture critic who savaged Ratner's fifth arena design now weighs in on his sixth one and, though he thinks it is an improvement, he concludes that it doesn't cut the mustard:

DEVELOP DON'T DESTROY BROOKLYN leads a broad-based community coalition advocating for development that will unite our communities instead of dividing and destroying them. We oppose Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Bruce Ratner SHoPs for respectability.