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| 700-unit Lightstone Group Development in Gowanus (credit: Lightstone Group) |
Above, the old brick warehouse building at 365 Bond Street between First and Second Streets on the shore of the Gowanus Canal. Photos taken in the fall.
Below, the site after building was taken down on Tuesday.
The speed with which the building came down shocked many in the community. One resident saw me take photos this morning and said: "It was standing there yesterday morning when I went to work. When I came home yesterday afternoon, it was gone."
The demo work proceeded with a major snag yesterday. The crew broke through a water main, which caused major flooding of the site. Gowanus Your Face Off has some amazing photos here.
To make way for their mega development, Lightstone will also demolish the adjacent warehouse at 363 Bond Street between Carroll Street and First Street. That demo is likely to happen in the next day or two.
If yesterday's major mishap is any indication on how work on the project will proceed, it should be an interesting ride.
Building at 363 Bond Street, between Carroll Street and First Street will be demolished next.
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13 comments:
Just up the street from us so good riddance. Anything that's put up will be better than what was there.
The downside for the newly build apt. buildings will of course be the increase in automobile traffic and taxing the subway system at Carroll Street to the max.
But like the new Whole Foods, it will integrate into the neighborhood and over time the usual suspects of naysayers and complainers will eventually stfu and get on with it, or look for something else to bitch about as that is their modus operandi.
Jim I'm also just up the street from this and can't wait to have my home sit in the shadow of massive 12-story towers. After all, isn't that why we moved to Brooklyn in the first place? So we could be surrounded by huge condo developments? I think this is the most wonderful thing that could have happened. Maybe, if I'm really lucky, they'll decide to put one up right next to my house. Wouldn't that be great? I hate those neighborhood complainers who try to get the Gowanus clean, maintain the quality of life in our neighborhood, and yadda yadda yadda. F'em, ammirite?
I'm not one to tell anyone to STFU especially when it comes to their views on the quality of life in their own neighborhood, but I do otherwise agree with Jim. Support of hate the project, we are at a historical crossroads and the neighborhood will look very different in 5 years.
Brooklyn Bob what quality of life in our Mayberryish neighborhood do you wish to maintain; the muggings, albeit spotty, that occurs on our streets at night, gangs of teenagers gather at Carroll park where one fires a gun in the proximity of families that are there with their children, cars broken into, gang graffiti that dots neighborhood buildings, both occupied and unoccupied, or is it the Gowanus canal that has been fetid for over 65 years to the point where human waste floats on the surface and stinks to high heaven in the summer?
Can I borrow your rose colored glasses when you're finished with them?
Knucklehead Jim rides to the rescue. And 'good riddance'? Exactly how long have you been there and what was your opposition to the industries there? It's not as if Brooklyn-- the city-- needs more JOBS, right?
Believe it or not, Jim, there are homeowners like myself who have interests beyond the mercenary real estate crap. Though Red Hook Crushers the former occupant of the Shithole Foods site wasn't environmentally perfect, they were still better, en toto, than what's there now.
Butthead Benny from Bond Street, "... Brooklyn --the city-- needs more JOBS"? Shakes head, rolls eyes. Look out your window this morning and you'll see people working on the Lighthouse project site. Take your time, workers will be there for the better part of next year. Also, if you can briefly set aside your antiquated elitist pride, take a walk over to WholeFoods and see the amount people working in the store.
I have lived up the block from these factories my whole life. They weren't the prettiest but they did employ people in the area and when they closed these people were without jobs. I am all for revitalizing Bond Street however this project is too large for our community. Where are the children in these new apartments going to go to school? The F train is a nightmare in the morning especially if you are getting on the train after dropping your child off at school. And as for parking, these buildings will only provide parking spots for a small percentage of units. What about all the other residents? Finding a parking spot now is already a nuisance, can you imagine how bad it is going to be when these buildings are occupied? Whole Foods is a great store and if people find it too expensive they can choose not to shop there. Unfortunately with the Lightstone Project we were not given any choices.
Jim seems to enjoy belittling serious concerns in favor of his very narrow and limiting views. Jim, dear fellow, that Lightstone project is totally inappropriate land use and should never have been allowed, especially Post Sandy. If is out of context, puts dense residential use in a flood/hurricane evacuation area, and EPA clean up has. Ot yet begun, and even when it is finished, that canal will still have sewage. And it does threaten industry as this kind of land use is much more profitable.
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
That's great, it starts with an earthquake, Birds and snakes, an aeroplane, and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.
9-story buildings at Bond/Douglass for +50 years so let's not fool ourselves we Gowanus residents live in a low-rise neighborhood
Bored at work said....Lets all remember that the reason this specific development exists is that the Community Board, the Borough President and the City Council approved a SPOT ZONING CHANGE for this site when it was owned by Toll Brothers. Then Council Member and now Mayor Elect deBlasio was a prime supporter. There can be no other buildings of a similar height built along the Gowanus unless there is more spot zoning or a comprehensive rezoning of the area.
It remains to be seen if anyone in their right mind will actually rent a unit in this development as it will be next to an active superfund cleanup site for the next ten years, at least.
There will continue to be massive development pressure on the area, but the Super Fund site designation and the clean up will slow things WAY down. Why do you think the City and Mayor Bloomberg were so opposed to a Fed cleanup?
Gowanee, Sorry if you and a few others saw my comments as belittling. That was not my intention, although when someone insults me by calling me a knucklehead or another replies to my initial comment with silly sarcasm, then the gloves come off.
For the record I'm not for the Lighthouse vastly overbuilt apt. bldg. for the same reasons others have. My point was that the wheels are set in motion and complaining about it, at this point in time, and on a blog, is a waste, of time.
I suggest adapting the FIDO (#@%! it drive on) philosophy and you'll be better off for it.
I agree with Jim. As for the 100 year old warehouses, there was nothing about them that deserves preservation. Good riddance, yes!
The point here is that Gowanus is thriving as it is, with current zoning in place. i know this first hand because it was thriving several years ago when I co-curated a show at the Brooklyn Historical Society showcasing all the industry going on at a time when some said that it was dead. The show opened doors to buildings that seemed to have nothing going on inside. And since that time, even more has moved in- adaptive reuse of Conklin Brass, for example - it is now a film studio. And Gowanus land use is more suited for industry than for dense residential use, it is also one of bthe last neighborhoods zoned for industry. Some businesses that have moved to Gowanus have had to leave other gentrified neighborhoods like SOHO and DUMBO. You may not,like the look of the warehouses, but they serve a function. I know of a boom company that has been trying to get more space in Gowanus but cannot afford it because of warehousing by property owners hoping to get their property rezoned for the more lucrative residential or mixed use.
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