Bjarke Ingels tapped for residential project in Gowanus

Another big development team is headed to Gowanus: RFR Realty, and Bjarke Ingels’s eponymous Bjarke Ingels Group. The developer has brought on the architect to design a new residential project that will be located along the Gowanus Canal. Crain’s first reported on the project.

Earlier this year, RFR Realty purchased a site located at 175-225 Third Street, from SL Green and Kushner Companies. RFR is rumored to have paid a whopping $120 million for the development site, according to Crain’s. The site is currently being used as a parking lot, and is located across the street from Gowanus’s Whole Foods.

At present, the site offers up 140,000 square feet of commercial space. It is expected that a planned rezoning of the neighborhood will allow residential development on this site. In fact, many developers have intimated that they will lobby for bigger buildings as part of the rezoning process, so it’s likely that this site across from the Whole Foods could see a large project.

The Bjarke Ingels Group declined to comment on the project, and RFR Realty did not return requests for comment. If the project moves forward, it will be BIG’s first development in the neighborhood.

• Architect tapped for Gowanus development signals high-end future of once-gritty neighborhood [Crain’s]
• Developers will lobby for bigger buildings in Gowanus Canal rezoning [Curbed]
• Gowanus rezoning framework focuses on affordable housing, green space [Curbed]