Marked by sustainable design in keeping with PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg's plan for a greener, greater New York, the development will result in 774 units of mixed-income housing. Roughly 615 apartments will be affordable to low-income and middle-income families, including 120 units of low-income senior housing. The mixed-use development will feature more than 25,000 sf of cultural space, 38,000 sf of ground-floor retail and nearly 100,000 sf of public open space located along the canal. The canal-side park, in addition to landscaped waterfront space for passive and active recreation, will feature arts and educational programming and significant recreational opportunities for the surrounding community. The overall development is part of the Mayor's historic New Housing Marketplace Plan, a $7.5 billion commitment to create and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing, over 70,000 of which have already been financed.
As GlobeSt.com previously reported, a Request For Proposals was issued by the City in July 2007. According to a prepared statement, of the six proposals submitted, Gowanus Green's provided the greatest level of affordability, as well as the greatest balance between space dedicated to housing versus that dedicated to open and cultural uses. In addition, architectural partner Rogers Marvel's focus on sustainable design is sure to qualify many of the development's buildings for LEED Gold designation while the work of landscape architects West 8 and Starr Whitehouse will help the overall development to qualify for the pioneering LEED Neighborhood Development program.
Located at the southeast corner of 5th and Smith streets and bounded to the east by the Gowanus Canal, the development is part of Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to integrate the Gowanus Canal corridor with the vibrant surrounding communities of Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. As GlobeSt.com also previously reported, the development will serve not only to redevelop long underutilized land into spaces for residents, local business and community groups alike to call home but will also serve to clean up a brown field that has long been a blight on the surrounding neighborhood. The reclamation of brownfields is a major component of PlaNYC, acting to both "create" new land for needed development and improve the environmental quality of the surrounding neighborhoods and the City as a whole, according to a prepared statement.
"I am very pleased to be able to announce the designation of a development team as strong as the Gowanus Green Partnership. Public Place has lain vacant for far too long and its cleanup and redevelopment will be a great benefit to this neighborhood," says HPD Commissioner Donovan. "Now, thanks to the Mayor's New Housing Marketplace Plan—a 10-year plan to create affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers—not only will this development provide new affordable housing, commercial space and dynamic new community resources such as the much anticipated boat house and daycare center, it will do so in a way that sets a precedent for future developments by integrating sustainable design features with an impressive level of affordability."
The selection of Gowanus Green as the development group for the Public Place site is the culmination of a lengthy community process in which community residents, community-based organization leaders, elected officials and staff from HPD and other city agencies worked together to determine what kind of development would best serve the surrounding communities as well as the City as a whole.
"After years of discussions and many failed attempts, we as a community can applaud the results of everyone involved in the effort to create a mixed-use development with an emphasis on both senior and affordable housing, housing the Carroll Gardens community desperately needs," explains Assemblywoman Joan Millman, in a prepared statement.
Totaling approximately 675,000 sf, the residential component of the development will consist of 120 units of low-income senior housing and 654 units of mixed-income housing. Of the 654 units of mixed-income housing, 495 will be affordable to families making between 30% and 130% of HUD's Income Limits—between $23,000 and $99,840 for a family of four or $16,100 and $87,295 for a single person. 380 of the units will be rental, while the remaining 394 will be homeownership.
The project is expected to be financed in part through the New York City Housing Development Corp.'s Low-Income Affordable Marketplace Program in addition to subsidies from the New York City Housing Trust Fund, part of the Mayor's $7.5 billion, 165,000-unit New Housing Marketplace Plan. Construction on the project is anticipated to begin in spring 2010 and be completed in spring 2014.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
