Is Whole Foods' Gowanus Store Really That Green?

Whole Foods Gowanus rendering

Before there was Whole Foods Gowanus, there was wetland.

Photo by Robert Guskind.

Whole Foods Gowanus site under water during Hurricane Sandy

photo credit: Urban Divers via Martin Bisi

Photo by Martin Bisi

Photo by Martin Bisi

Photo by Martin Bisi

As everyone knows by now, Whole Food Market's Gowanus store at 214 3rd Street at 3rd Avenue is slated to open on December 17.
According to the company, the 56,000-square-foot store is the most sustainably-designed building ever constructed by the chain. Besides organic produce, the store will include the nation’s first commercial energy-efficient scale greenhouse farm operated by Greenpoint-based Gotham Greens. The roof will also house a pub that will serve locally brewed beer.   In addition,  a landscaped shoreline promenade will be installed along the edge of the Gowanus Canal.
Its parking lot has been paved with permeable pavers and outfitted with solar panels.
In other words, Whole Foods went to great length to appeal to a health-concious, environmentally aware clientele and was, according to the Observer "determined to fulfill every Brooklyn stereotype."

It all sounds pretty awesome, for sure, but is Whole Food's Gowanus store really all that green?
Yes, the company has remediated the former industrial site under New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Brownfield Clean-Up program.  However, the store is built on wetlands, prone to frequent flooding.  During Hurricane Sandy, the site was completely inundated.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, "only about 5 percent of the land area in the continental United States is composed of wetlands. But these transitional zones—neither completely dry nor entirely liquid—are enormously valuable, especially when it comes to controlling floods. Wetlands act like natural sponges on the landscape, absorbing and then gradually releasing storm waters and lessening flood damage."
The organization warns that filling and building on wetlands is never a good idea. As developers have been nibbling away at wetlands, they have created big problems, according to NWF.
"Wetlands are superb at purifying polluted water, replenishing aquifers and harboring wildlife. But they are almost always terrible places to build houses."
Further, "when wetlands are filled, the water that made them wet has to go somewhere. If it isn't seeping back into the basement of the house built on the former wetland, the water likely is leaking into formerly dry homes of downstream property owners."

Another point to consider is that Whole Foods Gowanus property sits squarely in a FEMA Flood Zone and that the building required extensive waterproofing. Above are a few photos of the new store at the Gowanus Canal's Fourth Street Basin taken by Gowanus resident Martin Bisi .
One can clearly see the high water mark and how close to the canal the building sits. If the last major storms have taught us anything, it is that we should be pulling away from waterfronts, instead of getting closer. Hopefully, WF's waterproofing is sufficient to keep the next flood at bay.

One last point. It must have become clear to many by now that this particular store is a 'destination' store. Otherwise, why would there be the need for such a huge parking lot. Whole Foods' own Traffic Impact Study indicated that the company expected 68% of the store's customers to arrive by car.
That's a lot of additional car traffic at a time when we should be encouraging people to walk and to leave their vehicle at home.

So, yes, Whole Foods may have bent over backwards to build a green store, but an argument can be made that placing their store at that location was not so green at all.

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Whole Foods In Gowanus Now Hiring

Construction of the Whole Foods store on a 2.15 acre site at Third Street and Third Avenue in Gowanus has been progressing steadily for the last few months and now. Just recently, the front of the the future organic market has been clad in brick, the parking lot has been paved, and brick columns which will be part of the fencing have been erected along Third Street.

Though no official opening date has been posted on Whole Foods' web site yet, the store is already looking for staff. The flier below, which has been hanging in Assemblywoman Joan Millman's office, directs job seekers to the career page of its web site.

So far, there are only three job listings that we could find relating to the Brooklyn store. All three are for full time employment as part of the coffee team.

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Gowanus Whole Foods Taking Shape

Construction of the future Gowanus Whole Foods Market at 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street has progressed at a steady clip in the last few weeks. Crews have been busy driving long piles into the ground and the steel frame of the 56,000 s.f. organic market appears to be mostly completed.

Prior to construction, the approximately 2.15 acre site was remediated under the Brownfield Clean-Up Program under the supervision of the New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation. The work included excavation and disposal of soils impacted with contaminants, the removal of underground tanks, ground water monitoring, the installation of a soil cover consisting of several feet of new fill and a layer of gravel to cap the site.

 One can only hope that the remediation will not be affected by the construction work. After all, the long piles are being driven deep into the ground through the protective soil cap, which is meant to protect from residual contamination.
And there seems to be plenty of digging through the clean fill as evidenced by the photo below taken by Martin Bisi last week.

The Whole Foods site along 3rd Street. Photo taken by Martin Bisi

Now that the steel structure is almost completed, it has become evident how completely the new Whole Foods market will wrap around the historic Coignet building.
The landmarked structure, which shares the site with Whole Foods, was not part of the original land purchase.  However, under the sales agreement with owner, Richard Kowalski, of Beach Haven, N.J., Whole Foods agreed to restore and repair the old building. That work has yet to start.

In January 2012, despite objection of preservationists, Whole Foods was granted a special dispensation from the New York City Landmarks Law to reduce the size of the Coignet building lot from 125 feet to 55 feet on the 3rd Avenue side, and from 55 feet to 40 feet on the 3rd Street side.

Just recently, owner Kowalski has put the Coignet building up for sale or lease.

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Gowanus Landmarked Coignet Building for Sale

It would appear that the owner of the New York and Long Island Stone Company Coignet building at 360 Third Avenue at the corner of Third Street, has decided to sell or lease his badly dilapidated building. A sign by realtor Ken Freeman of Massey Knakal was put up just recently and the company's web site has the following listing for the property:

"Great retail opportunity adjacent to the new Whole Foods Market. Landmarked building in prime Gowanus location. The exterior of the building is to be completely restored by Whole Foods (interior requires gut renovation). 

Property was built in 1873 and was originally known as the Coignet Stone Company building. It has been referred to as a “pioneering example of concrete construction in the United States” by The Landmarks Preservation Commission and commonly considered a large part of the neighborhood’s history. The property includes a 750 sq. ft. dock space on the Gowanus Canal next to the 3rd Avenue bridge."

The is no indication of the asking price or of the monthly lease.

For quite a few years now, the historic structure has been deteriorating, its beautiful ornate façade slowly crumbling away. Its owner,  Richard Kowalski, of Beach Haven, N.J, had signed a Memorandum of Lease with Whole Foods back in 2005, when the company purchased the land surrounding the building in order to construct one of their food markets. Under the agreement, Whole Foods was to restore and repair the old house. The work, however, has been postponed till recently. In early 2011, the roof was replaced, which was an encouraging sign.

It is surprising that the owner and Whole Food Markets never came to an agreement.  It would, of course, make the most sense for Whole Foods to buy or lease the building themselves.  After all, they already have agreed to restore it.

The 1873 building was designed by William Fields & Son and housed the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company, which occupied five acres along the Gowanus Canal. In more recent history, it was home to the Pippin Radiator Company.

The Coignet Stone Company building was landmarked in 2006 by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. You can read more about its history here.

The Coignet building in all its glory. An etching from 1873.

Historic photo of the Coignet Stone Company Building

More history of the Coignet building from :Historic District Council (HDC)

"The New York and Long Island Stone Company Coignet Building was constructed as a show case for what the manufacturer’s product could do, create a strong, elegant, detailed building at a cost less than real stone. It is easy to forget that this is the earliest known concrete building in New York City, and one of the earliest in the country, due to the fact it has been primarily covered over with faux brick. Areas of the west and south façades though are uncovered and the building’s reason for being, concrete, is visible. 

While these two walls are certainly secondary to the main façades on Third Avenue and Third Street, they are not plain and instead some of the same detailing including arched windows, quoins and stringcourse are carried over. The west façade also includes a bay identical in design to the bays on the primary façades. It is troublesome that after years of planning by Whole Foods, the company is only now dealing with the fact that it owns a designated site and is asking the landmark to bear the brunt of the project. As shown in renderings, plans and elevations presented to the Brooklyn Community Board 6 Land Use Committee in August, the Coignet Building would be engulfed by new structures, while the other half of the block would be a parking lot. 

Obviously there are other arrangements on this block that would be more appropriate for the landmark. Although buildings were once unfortunately built up against the Coignet Building, probably in the mid-20th century, as their ghosts on the side walls show, they were shorter. Other factory buildings on the block were described by Brooklyn Daily Eagle in June 1872 as 32 feet tall – about 20 feet shorter than the planned Whole Foods buildings. The Coignet Building was always allowed to retain its prominence on the block. HDC urges you to keep the boundaries as they are so that any alterations to the sight are overseen by LPC and sensitively help preserve one of the few landmarks in Gowanus."

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Checking In On The Gowanus Whole Foods Site

Gowanus Whole Foods site as seen from Third Street Bridge

Looking at the store's future parking lot

From Third Street

From Third Avenue

The foundation of the future store

Waterproofing applied to foundation

Work at the future Whole Foods Market site at Third Avenue and Third Street and Gowanus has progressed quite a bit over the last few weeks.

The approximately 2.15 acre lot on the shores of the Gowanus Canal has now been fully remediated under the Brownfield Clean-Up Program and underground tanks and soil impacted with contaminants have been excavated and disposed of.

The site, originally comprised of a conglomeration of urban fill unsuitable for load bearing, had varying street elevations and a grade change of up to 12 feet'. In the last few weeks, the land has been backfilled and graded.

Towards Third Avenue, the foundation for the actual store has already been poured.
Crews are currently applying the heavy duty waterproofing material needed because of the high water table at that location. The site also lies in a Flood Zone A.

I was a bit curious about the "Warning Soil Remediation Exclusion sign" that is still prominently displayed on the lot towards the Canal, especially since I had heard that the clean-up had been completed.

I sent the photo to the Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 office to inquire. The agency reached out to BL Companies, the architectural engineering contractor at the Gowanus Canal site.

Here is the response:

"BL Company clarified that remediation of the site is complete. They also clarified that the sign “Soil Remediation Exclusion Zone” should read “Warning Exclusion Zone”. Exclusion zones are set up on the site during construction activities to prevent unqualified/unauthorized personnel from entering specific areas of the site. Apparently, there was an oversight and the existing signs will be replaced with new ones accordingly."




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Whole F(l)oods: Site Of Future Gowanus Organic Supermarket Submerged During Hurricane Sandy

Future site of Gowanus Whole Foods Store 

photo credit: Urban Divers via Martin Bisi
The same site during Hurricane Sandy

rendering of future Gowanus Whole Foods

(credit: Whole Foods)

Whole Foods' future store on Third Street and Third Avenue in Gowanus may soon be offering the company's products "without the standard array of modern toxic and persistent chemicals" but in case of a Hurricane like Sandy, those apples and oranges will have lots of nasty stuff on it.

That's because the store is right smack in the middle of a flood zone and right next to the Gowanus Canal.  During Sandy, at the end of October, the future site of the Gowanus Whole Foods was entirely under water. (See photo above)
As per the EPA,  that flood water had incredible amounts of bacteria as well as traces of petroleum and gasoline.  Luckily, the truly dangerous toxins at the bottom of the canal were left undisturbed.

Had the Whole Foods store already been open, it is safe to say that it would have had to be entirely gutted, much like Fairway in Red Hook, or so many homes and businesses along the canal.
Keep in mind that Sandy was not even considered a major rain event and let's remember that it doesn't take a hurricane to cause flooding in Gowanus.

The flooding probably did not surprise Whole Foods executives. After all, the company used the fact that the Gowanus "property is in a Flood Zone A and has a high water table and would need extensive waterproofing and additional measures to resist hydrostatic pressure" as one of the hardships  to get a zoning variance from NYC's Board Of Standarts And Appeals.

I suppose we should be lucky that Whole Foods did not go forward with their original plan, which called for a below-ground building.

I swear, one can't come up with this stuff even if one tried....


I would like to thank the Urban Divers and Martin Bisi for the use of their photo.

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Historic District Council And Preservationists Continue Push Against Shrinking Coignet Building Site In Gowanus

’Historic District Council (HDC), the Citywide Advocate for New York's Historic Neighborhoods, is currently circulating a petition to be sent to the NYC Council's Landmarks Subcommittee in regards to the landmark Coignet Building on the intersection of Third Street and Third Avenue in Gowanus.
HDC is asking the Landmark's Subcommittee to not grant Whole Foods Market, the owner, a special dispensation from the New York City Landmarks Law that governs the historic building.
Whole Foods wants to annex part of the Coignet building site to make the design of their proposed food market fit on the adjacent site "without any consideration given to how that new structure will impose itself on the designated landmark building." If granted, there will only be a five-foot “buffer zone” between the Coignet building and the new WF bi-box retail store.
On January 24th, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to reduce the size of the lot.
The Council's Landmarks Sub Committee (chaired by Councilmember Brad Lander)  will vote on this matter soon, before it is taken up by the entire Council.
HDC's petition reads:
"The Coignet building must be given the proper protection it currently has under the Landmarks Law. Whole Foods should comply with this law just as any owner of a landmark is required to. Whole Foods must make a proper Landmarks Public Hearing that shows just how their proposed development will relate to the Coignet Building."
If Whole Foods is allowed to alter the landmark site in order to avoid the normal Landmarks Preservation Commission review process, this will opens the way for all who want to build upon a landmarked site and avoid any LPC oversight. Maybe St Bart's Church can request a "Whole Foods" ruling and start building that glass tower they wanted to cantilever on their landmark church site 30 years ago.
We ask that City Council not damage Landmark Law by allowing any developer to manipulate and thus avoid the law in this manner."
On January 24th, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to reduce the size of the lot.The Council's Landmarks Sub Committee will vote on this this week, before the matter will be taken upthe flu Council.
To sign HDC's petition, click here.

A brief history of the Coignet building from HDC:

"The New York and Long Island Stone Company Coignet Building was constructed as a show case for what the manufacturer’s product could do, create a strong, elegant, detailed building at a cost less than real stone. It is easy to forget that this is the earliest known concrete building in New York City, and one of the earliest in the country, due to the fact it has been primarily covered over with faux brick. Areas of the west and south façades though are uncovered and the building’s reason for being, concrete, is visible. While these two walls are certainly secondary to the main façades on Third Avenue and Third Street, they are not plain and instead some of the same detailing including arched windows, quoins and stringcourse are carried over. The west façade also includes a bay identical in design to the bays on the primary façades. It is troublesome that after years of planning by Whole Foods, the company is only now dealing with the fact that it owns a designated site and is asking the landmark to bear the brunt of the project. As shown in renderings, plans and elevations presented to the Brooklyn Community Board 6 Land Use Committee in August, the Coignet Building would be engulfed by new structures, while the other half of the block would be a parking lot. Obviously there are other arrangements on this block that would be more appropriate for the landmark. Although buildings were once unfortunately built up against the Coignet Building, probably in the mid-20th century, as their ghosts on the side walls show, they were shorter. Other factory buildings on the block were described by Brooklyn Daily Eagle in June 1872 as 32 feet tall – about 20 feet shorter than the planned Whole Foods buildings. The Coignet Building was always allowed to retain its prominence on the block. HDC urges you to keep the boundaries as they are so that any alterations to the sight are overseen by LPC and sensitively help preserve one of the few landmarks in Gowanus."

Read more