What’s next for Jared Kushner’s Gowanus development site?

Eye On Real Estate

December 14, 2016 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jared Kushner (second from right) shares a moment on election night with his wife Ivanka Trump (far right) and (left to right) his father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump, and Barron and Melania Trump. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

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When will Jared Kushner and his joint-venture partners make their next move in Gowanus?

Kushner, as everybody knows, is Donald Trump’s real estate-savvy son-in-law. He served as an advisor to Trump in his successful campaign for President.

In addition to extensive property holdings in DUMBO that were purchased from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Kushner Cos., of which Jared Kushner is the chief executive officer, owns other Brooklyn properties, including a massive development site in Gowanus.

The property has frontage along the notoriously toxic but much-loved Gowanus Canal, and is across the street from a busy Whole Foods supermarket.

Kushner’s site is referred to as 225 Third St. in numerous articles and press releases written in 2014, the year that Kushner Cos.’ joint-venture with real estate firms LIVWRK and SL Green Realty Corp. made its purchase.

City Finance Department records indicate that the buyers purchased three lots for a total of $72.5 million through an LLC. Their addresses are 169, 175-185 and 201 Third St. The site is occupied by a couple small commercial buildings and a parking lot used by Verizon.

According to LIVWRK’s website, the joint-venture partners plan to develop the site “as a game-changing mixed-use project that respects the rich cultural and architectural heritage of the Gowanus, while also creating a proud new connection to the reclaimed Gowanus Canal.”

The question of what comes next for Kushner’s three-acre site takes on fresh urgency because the de Blasio Administration announced last summer that it plans to rezone Gowanus for more housing development.

There’s “tremendous potential” to build affordable housing and “to secure and expand good manufacturing jobs” in Gowanus, de Blasio spokesman Austin Finn told website Politico in August.

Kushner, who is married to the President-elect’s daughter Ivanka Trump, is one of several major real-estate investors who have purchased property in Gowanus in recent years.

Other developers’ sites — for instance, Roulston House

We also want to show you some other interesting Gowanus properties.

For instance, a couple blocks away from Kushner’s site, Globiwest Hospitality is constructing a hotel at 399 Third Ave.

For instance, several blocks away from the hotel site, we snapped photos of 94-98 Ninth St. and 75 10th St. Artist tenants there were told Hasta la vista, baby because developer Industrie Capital Partners is remodeling the buildings and turning them into office space for TAMI — an annoying acronym that stands for “technology, advertising, media and information” — tenants.

The developer calls the project Roulston House.

And we wanted to slip in some photos of old-fashioned buildings and other Gowanus eye candy. For instance, the century-old National Packing Box Factory at 543 Union St. is filled with artists’ studios.