BROOKLYN, N.Y.- Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the developer of the proposed Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, announced that the project scope has been reduced by 475,000 gross square feet. The overall development height has also been reduced by a combined 231 feet, or roughly 23 floors. The new scale was contained in the final scooping document released by the Empire State Development Corporation as part of the formal Environmental Review Process.

“For nearly three years, and long before the formal review began last fall, we have been meeting with elected officials, community leaders and civic and local organizations to incorporate their ideas into the Atlantic Yards project,” said Bruce Bender, Executive Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for FCRC. “From these meetings we developed the City’s first Community Benefits Agreement, shifted commercial space to more residential space, and have identified innovative ways to scale down the original design to better meet the needs of the borough and the surrounding communities. This coordinated approach has helped us improve the plan and make it better for everyone.”

Under the revised scoping document the Atlantic Yards project would contain 6.79 million square feet of residential space (down from 7.2 million square feet), 606,000 square feet of office space (down from 628,000 square feet), 247,000 square feet of retail space (down from 256,000), and 165,000 square feet of hotel space (down from 196,000). Publicly accessible open space has increased due to the reshaping and slimming of the buildings. The square footage of the arena – 850,000 GSF – remains the same.

The new scope retains 4,500 units of rental apartments, 50 percent of which will be for affordable and low-income residents. The reduction in residential units (from 7,300 to 6,860) is in market-rate units only.