Remember the big Toll Brothers development on the shores of the Gowanus Canal? It's been quiet for a while, but the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the development has been posted online. It's a massive document with 26 sections, not counting Appendixes. The review is happening because the Toll Brothers are looking for a special rezoning in advance of the bigger Gowanus rezoning that's being done. To refresh the memory the development would cover two blocks in the neighborhood and have 447 units (with up to 130 of them affordable), about 2,000 square feet of commercial space and 268 parking space. (The entire development would be elevated because of the threat of flooding with, uh, Gowanus water.) The development would total 525,000 square feet and the Toll Brothers are hoping to finish it by 2011. In any case, the document covers the usual ground, detailing the impact of the development on the community and the canal and assessing the interesting environmental history of the ground on which the condos would be located. What's most interesting, though, without delving into toxics, shadows, sewage and the like, is that the document has some new renderings showing how the project would fit into the canalscape in a before and after way. Let's just say that the Good Old Gowanus will be a very different place if the project is approved and built.
· 363-365 Bond Street Draft Environmental Impact Statement [nyc.gov]
· Canal Sweet! Toll Brothers Project Fully Revealed! [Curbed]
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