When Forest City Ratner broke ground on the first of its apartment buildings at Atlantic Yards, a 32-story tower at Atlantic Avenue and Dean Street, it was poised to be "the world’s tallest prefabricated, or modular, building," according to The New York Times.

But it one crazy Chinese developer makes good on his word, next month that record will be shattered: Broad Sustainable Building says it will begin work on its 220-story, 838-meter (about 2,750 feet) prefabricated tower, which they're calling Sky City, next month, according to Treehugger.

Economically, the building makes absolutely no sense. It will feature over 11 million square feet (or is it 13 million? The facts for this project always seem to be in flux) of floorspace in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. With more than 7 million inhabitants, Changsha is by no means a small city, but density like this could only possibly pencil out in the densest and most valuable of city cores. And yet, the project appears to be sited outside of the city center, surrounded by acres of open green space.

When the building got a flurry of press last year, we assumed it was just a publicity stunt. BSB did manage to build a 30-story tower in 15 days, so they're not total charlatans, but they did encounter a fair amount of skepticism.

"I don't think it's possible to build [a 838-meter tower] as quickly as they claim," structural engineer Bart Leclercq, who's worked on a number of skyscrapers for WSP Middle East, told Middle East Architect. "If they manage to build this structure in three months then I will give up structural engineering. I will hang my hat and retire. I will be eating humble pie as well."

Luckily, Mr. Leclercq won't have to do that: the developers have quietly rolled the time frame back to seven months of construction (or is it six?). Check out the promotional video above.

(And some friendly to BSB: hire some native speakers to do your English-language marketing. The Observer would be happy to offer our services in exchange for a high-floor penthouse. But don't try to stick us with any of those two-digit floors—we know you can do better.)

Cozy. (Matt Chaban)

Atlantic Yards living. (SHoP)

Well, modular is here, and it's real. After decades of dreaming by architects, an unlikely patron, developer Bruce Ratner, has made it possible to build a New York City building in a factory, assembling the units on site. Instead of cars, we will now be rolling apartments off an assembly line.

New Yorkers got their first look at the product, too, or at least the "chasis" around which these units will be built, at a ground breaking for the first Atlantic Yards residential tower, B2, nestled up beside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. 

"This may be the means and method to create more opportunities for construction that would not have existed if it were not for this technology," Gary LaBarbera, head of the New York City Building Trades Council declared from the dais.

Mr. LaBarbera has become an unlikely ally for the development, considering many union jobs were promised when this project came along, and a good deal of the savings modular offers is through limiting the most high-cost jobs of certain union workers. The units will still be constructed in a union shop at a factory, but using lower-paid workers. Still, Mr. Labarbera seemed pleased that what he touted as 125 new union jobs, even if they were low-paying, were better than none at all.

B2. (SHoP)

Plus, there are the other opportunities this new technology opens up, not only making unfeasible projects buildable, thanks to the estimated 30 percent savings, but it could also convert non-union jobs to unionized ones. Bruce Ratner, Mayor Bloomberg and Borough President Marty Markowitz all cheered on the possibility of modular housing becoming a booming export from Brooklyn and elsewhere in the city. "It's a whole new industry, born here in Brooklyn," Mr. Markowitz proudly declared.

"Many of the guys working on these types of projects are the same ones who could be living in these units," Mr. LaBarbera said.

Having seen them now, would you?

Modular construction has long been a dream of architects, for its efficiency and control, and now it could be a boon for New York City developers as well, since prefab methods can save 20 to 30 percent from traditional design methods. The only issue is for construction workers. Because the projects are built in factories, even when using union labor, the jobs tend to be less skilled and thus lower paying. Many labor unions had bridled at this, especially since Mr. Ratner had made extensive promises about the well-paying jobs Atlantic Yards would provide. But today the Building and Construction Trades Council announced its support for the development, saying that the prefab builders will get their own division within the labor group.

Gary LaBarbera, president of the council, suggested that without this agreement, nothing would have been built (never mind promises by Mr. Ratner with the state to start building at some point), and so this deal was acceptable.

"Today, we move forward with an innovative approach to development that will allow us to realize the vision of the Atlantic Yards project and create traditional construction jobs that may otherwise have been at risk," Mr. LaBarbera said in a statement. "And as we bring training, skill, quality and safety to modular construction through a strong labor-management partnership on this project, we see the potential to have this approach improve our competitiveness elsewhere in the local market and expand into an export industry to create even more sustainable union jobs that pay good wages and benefits.”

Indeed, Mr. Ratner and others have touted modular construction's ability to be a boon for the entire development industry, particularly on the affordable housing front. This is an area of development the unions have not typically occupied—though they are also increasingly trying to horn their way in in other ways—and if it can corner the prefab market, many projects employing it in the future would have to deal with the unions. Even with higher wage rates, the cheaper costs—from controlled environments of the factory floor and streamlined construction processes, plus cheaper union jobs—could entice many developers across the city.

In other words, Atlantic Yards might not simply revolutionize this corner of Atlantic Yards, but also housing across the city.

Or even across the world. B2, as the apartment tower is known, would lap many times the current record holder for prefabricated construction, a 20-story hotel in England. And the involvement of SHoP is meant to suggest that prefab can be sleek and design-y as well. "With modular, we are also transforming how housing is built in New York City and, potentially, around the world," Mr. Ratner said in a statement. "And we are doing it, as we do with all of our construction, in partnership with union labor, the best labor, in the best City in the world."

Part of the reason for building modular is because the return on the first tower is limited, following a commitment by Forest City Ratner to make the building 50 percent affordable. Of the 363 unit in the building, half will be affordable, though there have been complaints of just how affordable they will actually be.

Working with SHoP and engineers at Skanska, Forest City Ratner developed a system that will allow some 930 modular units, known as mods, to be assembled at a factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. They will be trucked onto the site, at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Dean Street, hoisted into place and connected. There are more than 30 different mods that can be combined to create apartments ranging in size from a studio to a three bedroom. The project will also be green, seeking a LEED Silver rating.

"Two years ago, due to the financial environment and other issues, we undertook intensive research and development to explore the feasibility of modular and to infuse technologically modern means of construction in our design and construction methods," said MaryAnne Gilmartin, Ratner executive vice-president. "We believe we’ve achieved a significant break through that will allow us to create world-class design and keep our commitment to union labor and deliver a significant amount of affordable housing.”

There was no mention of whether or not there is a special tax break for building modular housing.

Raise high the roof beams, Mr. Ratner. (SHoP_

Last week, The Observer looked at Bruce Ratner's plans for a prefabricated Atlantic Yards project—whether he was serious about the project and whether he could achieve the steep 20 percent savings he claimed for the modular building process. A number of real estate professionals were skeptical on both counts, but they all pointed to the developers out-sized investment in prefab technology as an indicator of his seriousness. Now we know just how much of an investment that has been.

Forest City Ratner has spent $3.5 million on research and development for prefab construction, according to The Journal, which dug the number out of its annual report. Since Mr. Ratner began considering prefab apartment towers in 2009, that is more than a million dollars per year. Add to that the lawsuit Forest City helped fight, and this seems like a considerable commitment to this new approach.

This may put to rest claims that the developer was only looking at prefab as a means to break the unions and get a better rate from them on Atlantic Yards. Then again, with 15 towers containing millions of square feet of space, a few million could be but a drop in the bucket if it means bigger labor saving on the future of the site.

The entire project has been predicted to cost $5 billion, so even a 5 percent reduction in costs through labor negotiations could equal $250 million in savings. Even if Forest City Ratner were to spend $50 million researching prefab construction, if it gets the labor unions to bend and build a cheaper traditional building, that would be money well spent.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

The project first popped up in 2009, and the architects, Peter Gluck & Partners, have just filed a new set of plans, pushing the project from seven to eight stories. Not exactly 32, like Bruce Ratner has planned, but it shows the potential on mid-rise sites, especially when the ambitious scope of the project is considered: According to Curbed, the plan is to build the modules in the span of three months in Pennsylvania, ship them in and erect it all in the course of eight days. Can you imagine a developer would not be interested in that kind of turn around?

The future is finally now.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC