On Saturday May 8th, the Brooklyn Academy of Music will break ground for its new Richard B. Fisher Building at 321 Ashland Place. The new arts space will be available to local artists as well as community and cultural organizations. The festivities will take place in a block party format open to the public from 12-4pm.

On Thursday developer The Clarett Group confirmed that lender Eurohypo Bank may take ownership of the undersold Forte Tower in the Brooklyn Academy of Music cultural district. Only 37 of the 108 units in the building have been sold after two years of marketing. Goldman Sachs has a 75% equity stake in the project.

Although many thought plans to build a new home for the Theater for a New Audience in the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Cultural District had died, project architect Hugh Hardy said that the $59 million theater will be built. The City supports the project, and Hardy said that construction will begin in December 2009.

In January 2009, New York City used eminent domain to acquire six properties in the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Cultural District. The buildings were within the block bounded by Fulton Street, Ashland Place, Lafayette Avenue and Rockwell Place.

Due to the “shaky” financial market, a mixed-income rental tower planned for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Cultural District will not be built. 100 apartments in the 187-unit tower were to be below-market rate.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is launching a $300 million capital campaign to ensure the stability of the nearly 150 year old cultural institution. BAM plans to use the money to build new theaters, grow its endowment, and pay for new artistic initiatives. More than half of the money has already been raised, and BAM hopes to raise the entire amount by 2012 despite the recession.

The Theater for the New Audience will not be designed by Frank Gehry as originally planned. The building’s design is set to be completed in the next few months and Gehry’s schedule proved to full to continue with the design process. The new theater will be in the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Cultural District in Fort Greene.

Two Brooklyn cultural groups will occupy space in the restored Strand Theatre on Fulton Street in the BAM Cultural District. The historic theatre, built in 1918, will undergo a renovation with construction slated to begin in 2009 and be completed in 2010. The $17.3 million project is being funded by the Mayor’s Office, the Brooklyn Borough President’s office and city council.

A renovation of the basement and first floor space at the Strand Theater in Fort Greene will provide much needed space to BRIC Arts and Urban Glass. The renovations are being funded by the mayor, Brooklyn borough president, and city council. The additional space will be used for a variety of arts projects and performances and will be a contribution towards the greater BAM Cultural District.

While it is reported that the Theater for a New Audience has had no problem raising money for its development, the location of the new theater has changed for the second time. Now it is said that the theater will be located further down the block from Ashland Place and Lafayette Street where it was previously supposed to be built. The City now plans to use this site to build affordable housing also...