And then there were two, who might become one.
Next Tuesday, Brooklyn Bridge Park will decide on which of the three teams still vying for the Pier 1 development gets the right to turn the old dockland into hundreds of luxury apartments and hotel rooms. It appears there could be a partnership between two of the three of them to see the project through.
According to Crain’s, Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital are trying to bring their Pier 1 developments together, though it is not clear how the two architectural schemes they have devised, by Rogers Marvel and a consortium of Bernheimer Architecture, Alloy Development and nArchitects might mesh their work.
In November, the Brooklyn Bridge Corp. released renderings and site plans for the seven proposals that were submitted ahead of the Oct. 24 deadline. Toll Brother’s hotel partner was Hampshire Hotels and Resorts, which is behind the Dream Hotel brand in Manhattan. Starwood Capital, whose hotels include the St. Regis in Manhattan, teamed up with Alloy Development. Each group also has its own design team and architect. Toll has Rogers Marvel and Starwood has Bernheimer Architects and n Architects. It could not be determined what design was selected.
Dermot Company, who was working with FXFowle as its architect and a proposal to include a home for the St. Anne’s Warehouse theater, may be on the outside looking in, but Crain’s, as well as The Times, both note that no final deal has yet been reached.
These were three of the most architecturally ambitious projects, so to see two of them joining forces is intriguing. Should they make the decision, too rare in New York City megadevelopment, to combine their efforts into a more varied whole, the project will be that much better off for it.