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Is new Nets arena dead? Yes, says architect

Architect Frank Gehry says the New Jersey Nets arena, as well as the larger Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, probably won’t happen.Architect Frank Gehry says the New Jersey Nets (NBA) arena, as well as the larger Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, proabably won’t happen.

In an interview with the Architect’s Newspaper, Gehry lamented the Atlantic Yards project as an unrealized commission, saying he didn’t think it was going to happen. Now, in the course of a much longer interview, you could term this a throwaway line, but add one other little factoid to the mix:

Last November Gehry laid off the team working on the project.

The $2.4 billion project, which includes a new arena for the Nets (with naming rights already sold to Barclays Bank) as well as office and residential towers, has been stalled, first by lawsuits and then by a souring economy, making borrowing difficult for developer Bruce Ratner.

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