Elected officials and City Hall reach agreement on Gowanus rezoning

By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

According to reports, elected officials and City Hall have reached an agreement on demands for the Gowanus rezoning, signaling a likely approval in City Council.

Among the demands was a $200 million commitment from City Hall to renovate 1,662 apartments in two New York City Housing Authority complexes which fall within the proposed rezoning area.

Developers have been preparing for the rezoning in recent months, as the neighborhood has seen a wave of new building plans. Among the most noteworthy are Property Markets Group’s plans for a 344-unit, 295,262-square-foot mixed-use building at 267 Bond Street and a 173-unit, 189,555-square-foot mixed-use building at 498 Sackett Street, Vorea Group’s plans for a two-tower, 360-unit, 313,672-square-foot mixed-use building at 404 Carroll Street and a 268-unit, 244,882-square-foot mixed-use building at 540 Degraw Street, and Quinlan Development Group’s plans for a 197-unit, 169,726-square-foot mixed-use building at 374 Fourth Avenue.

Back in July, PincusCo took a look at how the rezoning proposal, which has been highly debated for years now, could transform the former industrial area. At the time of the analysis, Gowanus had only had three new building plans filed in the previous five years for developments that were 20,000-square feet or larger.