Newly revealed renderings from Gowanus Forward illustrate an exciting future for the Gowanus Canal waterfront and the surrounding streetscape. From Gowanus Forward, a consortium of developers including Domain Companies, Monadnock, and PMG, the renderings show a drastically reinvigorated public thoroughfare with open green spaces, recreational boating, new benches, and a winding esplanade.
Extensive rezoning proposals from New York City’s Department of City Planning could spur a dramatic uptick in development along the shores of Gowanus, Brooklyn. Known among city agencies as the “Gowanus Neighborhood Plan,” the initiative is designed to facilitate the construction of residential and commercial properties, to encourage population increase, and to help create new job opportunities for local residents.
The federal government is finally cleaning up the Gowanus Canal, and the Lightstone Group has just finished a 12-story rental building along the banks of the heavily contaminated waterway. Now the city has kicked off a long-awaited rezoning study for the industrial area around the canal, but officials offered few guarantees or timelines for the new zoning.
The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio is now looking into proposing the rezoning of the Brooklyn neighborhood Gowanus, Politico reported. Beginning this fall, the Department of City Planning will conduct a study of the neighborhood. Following the completion of the study, the city will decide whether or not to officially propose a rezoning and begin the review and approval process. Between 2013 and 2015, local politicians met with community leaders and residents to discuss future changes to the neighborhood. The analysis, called Bridging Gowanus, determined more residential development would be acceptable only if affordable units are mixed into the new construction and existing manufacturing and office spaces are retained. If an official rezoning proposal is eventually launched, it should take roughly seven months for it to be passed.