Gowanus is one of the last industrial outposts in gentrifying Brooklyn. Much like East Williamsburg and Bushwick, the streets of Gowanus feature artist studios interspersed with trendy bars and concrete factories as 18-wheeled trucks trundle past.
But the increasingly expensive neighborhood, which is cut in half by the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal, is finally primed for a major change: a city-initiated rezoning. The long-planned land use endeavor will rezone a few dozen blocks around the manmade waterway, in an effort to encourage new residential development with affordable housing, new midrise commercial projects and infrastructure improvements throughout the neighborhood.
“I would argue that between now and when the specifics of the rezoning are announced, you’re going to see very little activity in this market,” said Dan Marks, a partner at Prospect Heights, Brooklyn-based TerraCRG . “Before people were getting frustrated, and they said I’m tired of waiting for this. Now the rezoning is within our grasp. What we don’t need to happen is any further delay in the specifics coming out, which will keep this market in a state of limbo.”
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