The long-awaited Gowanus Green development in Brooklyn will
be 100 percent affordable, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and
Development announced today
A development team led by HPD and including The Hudson Companies, Jonathan Rose Companies, Bluestone Organization, and the Fifth Avenue Companies, will redevelop the six-acre site at the corner of Smith and 5th Streets that once housed a gas plant with six residential buildings comprising 950 apartments, a 1.5-acre public park and leave space for a new public school.
Marvel Architects and SCAPE Landscape Architecture designed approved plans for buildings ranging from a five-story school to a 28-story tower.
“Gowanus Green helps realize the City’s commitment to fair
housing and equitable growth at a moment when safe, affordable housing and
public open space is more important than ever,” says Deputy Mayor for Housing
and Economic Development Vicki Been.
“This will be a transformative project to open an amenity-rich,
transit accessible neighborhood to more New Yorkers, with nearly 1,000 homes —
all below market, with rents affordable to a wide range of individuals and
families. Thank you to all our partners who have helped get the project this
far. We look forward to advancing this
development and the broader Gowanus Neighborhood Plan together.”
At least half of the rental housing will be dedicated to
extremely low/very low-income households with incomes averaging at or below 50
percent AMI (approx. $51,200 for a family of three), including at least 15
percent of rental units dedicated to formerly homeless households.
No more than 40 percent of rental housing will be dedicated
to moderate income households with incomes averaging between 80 to 120 percent AMI
(approx. $81,920 – $122,880 for a family of three).
Senior Housing will be provided for seniors 62+ years in age
and there will be supportive housing for
formerly homeless, disabled individuals or homeless families with a disabled
head-of-household.
Affordable home ownership will be provided for households with incomes averaging between 80 and 130 perecent AMI (approx. $81,920 – $133,120 for a family of three).
The creation of Gowanus Green dates back nearly 12 years since
a major canal cleanup was first announced and a massive rezoning planned.
A key goal of the Neighborhood Plan rezoning is to reconnect the community to the Gowanus Canal and improve neighborhood livability with better access to the open space and the waterfront and other local environmental improvements.
Mapping extensions of Luquer and Hoyt streets will reconnect
the area to the street grid and facilitate the redevelopment of City-owned
property. The Luquer Street extension will be designed as a shared street,
where pedestrians have priority and share the right of way cooperatively with
cyclists and motorists.
The new Gowanus Green park will connect to an esplanade to be built along the canal as sites are developed under the forthcoming Gowanus Waterfront Access Plan.
Infrastructure at Gowanus Green will capture 100 percent of
stormwater on-site. Using green roofs, stormwater harvesting cisterns, rain
gardens, bioswales and more, the capture system will only generate clear water
discharge into the Gowanus Canal, relieving pressure on the city’s combined
sewer overflow facilities.
The Gowanus Green plan also anticipates the area’s overall population growth by reserving space for a new school.
“Gowanus Green is a model of how affordable housing can be
transformative for neighborhoods and is beneficial for whole communities,” said
HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll.
“Anchoring the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan with a 100 percent affordable development that will infuse the community with new green spaces accessible to everyone, while contributing to the area’s resiliency, will make this thriving community an even more vibrant and inclusive place to live.”
The city has announced that the Gowanus neighborhood rezoning process will get underway by January 2021.
