New Look: 470 Fourth Avenue

The first permits are up for foundation work at 470 Fourth Avenue, in Brooklyn, and a fresh set of renderings from Aufgang Architects accompanies the filings, giving a better look at the project. Adam America is the developer, and the site is located between 10th and 11th Streets, in Gowanus.

470 4th Avenue, image via Aufgang Architects

Filings reveal a total scope of 84,454 square feet, including a 5,259 square-foot commercial component, and 200 square feet of space for a community facility. The remainder will be split between 105 residences.

470 Fourth Avenue will only stand 12 stories tall, and the building won’t make any impact on the skyline; nevertheless its construction will benefit the neighborhood, dramatically improving underutilized land. The brick facade will ensure contextuality, and the overall massing typifies beneficial infill development, with the built envelope sticking to the street-wall.

470 4th Avenue, image via Aufgang Architects

Gowanus is seeing a real estate boom; until recently the area was peripheral, but other new developments include Kushner’s 175-225 Third Street, which will transform a wide swath of land near the Canal.

The Canal presents another issue for the neighborhood, and echoes the situation facing Newtown Creek in Long Island City and Greenpoint. While clean-up will be difficult, encouraging redevelopment of industrial areas with comprehensive re-zonings and remediation would help solve New York’s housing crisis while also reducing pollution within the five boroughs.

Given that Gowanus is accessible by the F, G, and R trains, up-zoning the neighborhood to support its true potential could help jumpstart additional clean-up efforts, and the resulting supply increase would also help mitigate the ongoing surge in prices; projects like 470 Fourth Avenue and 175-225 Third Street are a good start, but Gowanus should be considered as a prime candidate for additional density, given the de Blasio administration’s search for areas where upzoning could be most effective.

470 4th Avenue, image via Aufgang Architects

Completion of 470 Fourth Avenue is expected in early 2016, and Brownstoner recently photographed demolition of the existing structures, which is now complete..

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