City Planning Commission (CPC) chair Marisa Lago has announced the start of public review for the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan.
The proposal will bring some 3,000 affordable homes for New York City families and nearly six acres of new open space, including a new park, to this vibrant mixed-use community.
“The Gowanus Neighborhood Plan has been the outcome of over a decade of planning, engagement and advocacy for a fairer, greener, healthier Gowanus. In light of the pandemic and the movement for racial justice, it is more important than ever that we advance projects that bring new affordable housing opportunities to high-amenity neighborhoods and plan holistically for parks, jobs and walkable communities,” Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been said in a statement.
The Gowanus Neighborhood Plan directly supports COVID-19 recovery efforts by facilitating the creation of new permanently affordable homes, some 3,500 new local jobs and walkable open space in this centrally located, transit-abundant Brooklyn community. The plan will require the use of a proposed citywide stormwater management and retention rule and the remediation of brownfields as properties are redeveloped. It will incentivize the creation of space for arts and culture.
The plan covers an area roughly bounded by Bond St. to the west, Baltic St. to the north, 4th Ave. to the east, and Huntington, 3rd, 7th and 15th streets to the south. This sprawling 82-block area proposed for rezoning has only one major neighborhood park.
The plan would result in an estimated 8,500 new homes, 3,000 of them affordable, out of which approximately 2,000 will be permanently affordable on private sites under the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program (MIH).
The Gowanus Houses Community Center is slated to receive a comprehensive upgrade that includes a newly renovated bathroom and kitchen; new fire alarm systems; and lighting, electrical, security and HVAC system upgrades. Construction is anticipated to start in summer 2022 with completion scheduled for December 2023.
tHE Wyckoff Gardens Community Center will receive brand new additions that include a teaching kitchen; women’s and men’s restrooms; and additional walkways at the center. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2021.
Along the Canal, zoning would facilitate larger-scale mixed-use developments with active ground floors, housing, and an incentive for uses that reflect the neighborhood mix, such as light industrial and repair-based businesses, nonprofits, arts and culture and other job-generating uses.
