There is more big news from South Brooklyn this morning: The city has announced that a team led by the Hudson Companies has been chosen to build its "Gowanus Green" development on Public Place between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal. The design come from Rogers Marvel Architects and landscape designers West 8 and Starr Whitehouse. (For the full photo gallery of renderings of the winning proposal, click here.) The Hudson Companies proposal was selected over one from Related Companies/Monadnock. The development team includes the Bluestone Organization, the Fifth Avenue Committee and Jonathan Rose Companies. The development will include 774 units of mixed-income housing, with 615 apartments for low- and middle-income families, including 120 units of low-income senior housing. It will also include 25,000 square feet of cultural space, 38,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and nearly 100,000 square feet of public open space located along the canal. The proposal is the bigger of the two finalists that were considered. A big cleanup of the very toxic site has to happen before Gowanus can go green and the development could still grow significantly if it expands to an adjacent parcel of land.
· Hudson Companies 'Gowanus Green' Revealed in Detail [Curbed]
· Hudson Companies Chosen to Develop Public Place Site [Brownstoner]
· Related/Monadnock Public Place Proposal Fully Revealed [Curbed]
That big Toll Brothers proposal for condos on the Gowanus Canal is starting to make its way through the review process. One of the more interesting documents sent to the Department of City Planning comes from Community Board 6, which blasts it for being "overwhelming" compared to the rest of the neighborhood and "in direct conflict" with some of the city's own planning goals for the neighborhood. The document lists a long history of industrial uses for the Toll property that means it is contaminated with lead, heavy metals and oil among other things. The Community Board says the city needs to consider the project's impact in the context of the big Public Place plans, development of condos on Fourth Avenue and other planed Gowanus projects. On the olfactory front, it notes that condo buyers might have to put up with years of, uh, crappy smells coming off the Gowanus as a flushing tunnel is shut down, causing--check out the wording here--a situation "incompatible with simultaneous residential habitation proximate to the canal." We believe this is planning-speak for saying it's going to smell like shit around the time the Toll Brothers condos come on the market.
· Toll Brothers Gowanus Project: Zoning, Toxins & Shadows [Gowanus Lounge]
· Written Testimony on Toll Gowanus Project (WARNING: PDF) [brooklync6.org]
· Gowanus Organizing to Block Toll Brothers Project [Curbed]
Detailed renderings of the big finalist proposals for Public Place on the Gowanus are slowly coming our way. These are detailed renderings of the Related Companies/Monadnock proposal for the big site. To recap: the proposal would include 725 units of housing, 22,000 square feet of retail, 9,013 square feet of community space and 86,529 square feet of public open space. The project design is from Handel Architects. Partners include Monadnock Construction Inc., Catholic Charities and Donna Walcavage Landscape Architect. The plans may change dramatically as a neighboring property owner could join the winning development team and add another four acres to the six-acre site. As for the "Team B" finalist, the Hudson Companies, ball's in your court on the cool, glorious renderings front.
· Big Gowanus 'Public Place' Development Finalists Revealed [Curbed]
· Will Public Place Development Grow? [Gowanus Lounge]
· Developers Could Take Double Dip in Gowanus' Public Place [BDE]
The two development proposals that are finalists for the big Public Place site in Carroll Gardens/Gowanus were presented last night. While officials insisted on identifying them as "Plan A" and "Plan B," the plans come from The Related Companies and The Hudson Companies. Each would build more than 700 units of housing and offer up a lot of retail space and parkland along the Gowanus. Buildings range in height from 6-12 stories. The Hudson Companies proposal would offer about triple the retail and community space of the Related Companies proposal and, of course, big buildings to accommodate both. The proposals could still grow. The owner of an adjacent property that isn't included in the current plan is said to be interested in joining one of the development proposals, which would add 30-40 percent to the site.
WILLIAMSBURG—Corcoran's Bedford Avenue office opened last week, and it's not like most of the firm's other offices at least from the outside. Yesterday, there was a small indie film shooting around the corner, complete with actors lounging and food on a table, with one actress practicing a delivery of a line about "the new Brooklyn." Okay. Also, they've left the art on the wall between Corcoran and the bagel shop. [CurbedWire Staff]
CARROLL GARDENS—There may be some new details about the big Public Place development along the Gowanus Canal tonight. The list of developers have been whittled down to two: the Related Companies and The Hudson Companies. Some info about their plans--and maybe even what the timetable is for cleaning up the site with a soup of underground toxins--for up to 1,000 units of housing, plus retail and public space, are expected at a community meeting. [CurbedWire Staff]
There are some odd rumblings about coming out of Carroll Gardens and Gowanus where residents are still digesting the plans revealed last week for the Toll Brothers development on the shores of the Gowanus and talking about "a movement" to block the project. Together with the Public Place project that would add 1,000 or so apartments and condos to the neighborhood, the total of new units could be 1,700 or more. Another two projects including the Gowanus Village once planned by developer Shaya Boymelgreen on the eastern shore of the canal and two 10-12 story buildings that might be built on the site of an oil depot further north near the Union Street bridge, could add another 1,000-1,500 units. (That's assuming that serious toxic issues can be overcome.) One resident says "People are mighty pissed off. There is a movement afloat." The Toll Brothers are looking for special zoning for a "mixed use district" before the overall neighborhood rezoning. The plan for the project was revealed as part of that process.
· New "Movement" Developing in Gowanus & Carroll Gardens? [GL]
· The Race to Develop a Toxic Waterway [Gotham Gazette]
· Toll Brothers Big Gowanus Project Revealed [Curbed]
One Gowanus "hotness" story in a week is a fluke, two is a coincidence, but three, if not four, is definitely a trend. First, came this week's Women's Wear Daily article, which may have marked the first time that sewage treatment got space in WWD. (It may be "fashionable," but it's still Gowanus.) Today, however, it's all clear. The Post reports on "Go, Go, Gowanus: Brooklyn's Swamp Thing Could Become Viable Neighborhood." Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle says that the field to develop the toxic Public Place site has been narrowed to two development teams, one headed up by The Related Companies and one headed by The Hudson Companies. And, to put icing on the Gowanus Moment, Forgotten NY also offers up a big new Gowanus feature this week. Not to mention the fact that Brownstoner reviews the list of developers interested in a piece of Gowanus and notes the big Gowanus rezoning proposal is coming soon.
There's some pretty fierce competition between five developers to win the rights to build on the highly toxic Public Place site in Gowanus (after a massive cleanup). Details of the proposal put together by AvalonBay have been leaked and published by Brooklyn Daily Eagle. (Yes, that's the Gowanus Canal in the rendering.) The proposal would include 425 affordable rental units and 326 condos. There would be six buildings, one of them 12 stories high. The proposal also includes a 14,000-square-foot supermarket along Smith Street, another five retail locations with 18,400 square feet, 11,400 square feet of artists' space, a 2,500-square-foot art gallery, a 3,200-square-foot restaurant, a 5000-square-foot environental centers and a 1,200 square-foot youth center. There's also a 5,400-square-foot senior center and, finally, a 2,500-square-foot boathouse and pedestrian walkway on the Gowanus. Translation: the proposal includes something for everyone. It's too early to ID the favorite, though, as the other competitors for the choice expected next year include Related Companies, Two Trees Management, The Hudson Companies and The World-Wide Group.
· Plan for Developing Brooklyn’s Vacant 'Public Place’ Unveiled [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
· AvalonBay Stresses Affordable Housing in Public Place Bid [Brownstoner]
· Development Heavyweights Line Up for Toxic Gowanus Site [Curbed]
All the bids are in to develop the highly toxic Public Place site between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal on the fringes of Carroll Gardens and Gowanus. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle identifies the five developers that have submitted proposals for a big mixed-use project that will include up to 1,000 units of housing and buildings up to 10-12 stories tall. The six-acre site was the site of a manufactured gas plant and toxins are said to be up to 150 feet underground. One of the threads that runs through all of the proposals is that the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corp. is listed as a partner in four of the proposals and is working to get into the fifth one. The developers include Time Warner Center developer the Related Companies, Two Trees Management, Strategic Development with Avalon Bay Communities, The Hudson Companies and The World-Wide Group. The development has to include affordable housing, senior citizen housing, ground-floor retail and open space among other things. The full list of which developers have hooked up with which local group to get an edge isn't known. The Public Place cleanup will likely take years.
· Five Developers Vie for Gowanus' Contaminated Public Place [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
· City Taking Bids for Toxic Gowanus Public Place [Curbed]
1) Confirming the obvious, savvy real estate connoisseurs need to see some serious Floorporn before they will consider visiting an apartment. Traditional listings can be full of lies and misleading statements, but as Gerald Makowski, director of marketing at Halstead Property says, “When you look at a floor plan, it is the apartment standing there naked.” However, beware that the floor plan does not tell the entire story, lacking such vital info as window size, hallway width and the condition of the apartment. [Where Floor Plans Are Sought After, and Why/Joyce Cohen]
2) Just when it seemed destined to be removed, the new Spitzer administration may save the Survivor Staircase at Ground Zero. Larry Silverstein has sought to remove the stairs to make way for Tower 2, but survivors, families of victims and preservationists believe the stairs should remain as a symbol of 9/11. [Spitzer May Seek to Save a Beloved Staircase/David W. Dunlap]
3) Real Estate developer Janna Bullock has purchased the lot on 62nd Street that was the location of the infamous Bartha Brownstone for a cool $8.3 million and plans build the ultimate green townhouse on the site. Construction costs will total $5 million and the new building will list for about $25 mil. Bullock has no concerns about the headline grabbing explosion impacting her profits, saying “I don’t want to have any association with the tragedy — to me it is an empty lot.” [Big Deal/Josh Barbanel]
4) When looking for a new roomate, Williamsburg hipsters tend to discriminate against other hipsters. After finding an available room listed for rent, hipsters will list their hipster qualifications as a signal to their potential roommates that they are deserving of the spot. In a shocking twist, this usually backfires, because everyone knows that a hipster is really just looking for a quiet roommate who can pay the rent. [Street Level: Gregory Beyer]
5) Slowly but surely, changes are coming at Public Place, the large empty lot that is currently too contaminated for habitation. A public meeting has been scheduled to discuss possible future developments. [Gowanus Report/Jake Mooney]
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All the bids are in to develop the highly toxic 
3) Real Estate developer Janna Bullock has purchased the lot on 62nd Street that was the location of the 
