DOB Green Lights First Stage of Whole Foods Project
That collective sigh of relief you hear is from all the developers with buildings underway within shopping distance of the planned Whole Foods site at Third Street and Third Avenue in Gowanus. The DOB approved the grocer’s plans for foundation work on the site yesterday, marking a huge symbolic moment in the project’sand neighborhood’shistory. It’s been a long time coming: Whole Foods held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the 68,000-square-foot store way back in ’06, and it was supposed to open this spring. In the meantime, a number of community groups have expressed concerns about the site’s environmental conditions (concerns that many say WF has ignored), and vandals have repeatedly torn down the property’s fence (it was playing peek-a-boo again this weekend, for example). It’s probably too early to break out the champagne though: The application for the new building was disapproved yesterday. Stay tuned.
DOB Rejects Latest Whole Foods Plan [Brownstoner] GMAP DOB
Whole Foods Facing an Uphill Battle in Gowanus [Brownstoner]