Polluted Gowanus Site Could Eventually Be Home to a Hotel and Retail

Although adjacent to one of America’s grimiest Superfund sites, Gowanus continues to attract new residents—and developers hoping to get in while the neighborhood can still be called up-and-coming. Here’s another example: The Real Deal reports that the Property Markets Group is currently in contract to purchase a 166,000-square-foot parcel of land—contaminated, of course—for the princely sum of $50 million.

The site, located on 455-459 Smith Street, bears the dubious distinction of being formerly used as a manufactured gas plant that is currently undergoing an environmental clean up. Although the land is currently zoned for manufacturing, it is expected that the neighborhood will be rezoned in the coming years.

According to DNAInfo, PMG hopes to build a mixed-use development which will include shops, a hotel and offices. And while it may seem strange to build a hotel next to a Superfund site, consider this: the rentals at 365 Bond Street, right next to the canal, have been pretty popular since launching earlier this year … so anything is possible.

• PMG to pay $50M for large, vacant Gowanus development site [TRD]
• Developer Spending $50M on Contaminated Gowanus Site [DNAInfo]
• The Fascinating, Murky History of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal [Curbed]
• Along the Gowanus Canal, a Rental Building Reshapes an Industrial Area [Curbed]