Would Include Housing, Senior Center, Supermarket, Stores and Youth Center
By Dennis Holt
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
GOWANUS -- Early next year, the city hopes to make a decision on which development team will get the nod to develop the Public Place, a more than six-acre site stretching from lower Smith Street to the Gowanus Canal.

Public Place, the site of a former gas manufacturing plant, has been owned by the city for more than 20 years and is the first significant parcel in Gowanus to be actively promoted by the government for development.

After the total Gowanus area is rezoned, probably next year, other development opportunities will surface, and how the Public Place site evolves could be an indicator of other ventures.

Five different development presentations have been submitted. This newspaper has been able to obtain some information on one of them -- the proposal from AvalonBay Group Inc., a firm that is also developing properties in downtown Brooklyn.

The core element of this proposal is affordable housing. AvalonBay’s approach would be to build 425 affordable rental units and 326 affordable homeownership units. Of these, nearly half will be set aside for senior housing, a long-time and increasing need for the Carroll Gardens area.

Observers believe that this proposal may contain more affordable housing units than the others, and its presentation submission is said to include many endorsements from community leaders and groups. The overall site abuts Fifth Street and Luquer Street. Both streets end at Hoyt Street, which is adjacent to the canal.

AvalonBay’s proposal includes six building groupings, two of them modest. One building will be taller than the others -- about 12 stories high – reflecting the need to create affordable housing.

The proposal also includes a 14,000-square-foot supermarket facing Smith Street; three artists’ workshops totaling 11,400 square feet, five local retail units throughout the property totaling 18,400 square feet; an art gallery of 2,500 square feet; a 3,200-square-foot restaurant; an environmental center of 5,000 square feet and a youth center of 1,200 square feet.

Also prominent in the proposal is a 5,400-square-foot senior center. Rumors are prevalent that the Eileen Dugan Senior Center on Court Street may lose its space, so it may need a new location. A 4,000-square-foot medical center is also on the drawing board.

A 2,500-square-foot boathouse and a pedestrian walkway along the canal are also part of the AvalonBay plan. Several environmental features relevant to the canal area, including retaining holding tanks for storm water runoffs, are included.

A decision on the winning proposal will not be unitarily made by city agencies. A special community citizen’s council has been established to review each proposal in detail and will clearly influence final decisions.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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