Waiting for Gowanus: few new projects as rezoning looms
By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo
A divisive and highly contentious plan to rezone the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, a former manufacturing area, has been in the works for more than a decade now. Last month Community Board 6’s Land Use Committee voted to approve the Gowanus rezoning plan, marking a significant victory for the proposal. The proposal’s next stops are the Borough President’s Office and the City Planning Commission, before heading over to City Council.
Gowanus Forward, a joint venture between Domain Companies, Monadnock and PMG who own seven acres of the section of the neighborhood which could be rezoned, recently released renderings of what the area could look like if the rezoning were to take place.
In total, the rezoning could lead to the construction of over 8,000 dwelling units by 2035, with roughly 3,000 of them being permanently affordable under the city’s mandatory inclusionary housing program.
With images of the possible future in mind, PincusCo is taking a look back at development in the neighborhood over the last five years, which has been among the least active in the borough.
PincusCo analyzed all residential new building filings of 20,000 square or larger with the New York City Department of Buildings in the last five years. The analysis did not include single-family buildings with less than four dwelling units.
Of the 412 plans that fit the above criteria filed in the borough during the span, only three were filed in Gowanus, with two of them being approved.
The largest plans were filed by Yoel Werzberger through the company Watermark Capital LLC, on November 12, 2020. The plans called for the construction of a 106-foot tall, nine-story, 48-unit, 37,121-square-foot mixed-use building at 584 4th Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
The plans indicated that the building would have retail space on the ground floor of the building. However, in May of this year the plans were disapproved.
The second largest plans came from Levi Balkany’s Happy Living Development in January of 2017 for the construction of a 39-unit condominium, known as Luna, at 229 9th Street in the neighborhood. The plans called for the construction of a 92-foot tall, nine-story, 31,423-square-foot building.
The final plans, a joint venture between Build360 and MDF Development Group filed in September of 2017, call for the construction of a 50-foot tall, four-story, 34,679-square-foot building with 13 dwelling units at 280 Bond Street.
The developers recently submitted a condo plan, CD210064, with a $39,360,000 sellout price at the development. Ken Hudes and Mark Rechler of Build360, along with Matthew Frank of MDF Development Group are the principals of the sponsor.