With a decision looming from the Board of Standards and Appeals’ on the variance Whole Foods Market applied for to build a store larger than zoning allows at 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue, neighborhood think tank the Gowanus Institute released an “alternative development plan” for the site. The blog Gowanus Your Face Off dissected the plan, which calls for building a couple large new buildings that would offer “vocational training, business incubation and support services for entrepreneurs in the culinary and creative industries.” As the blog notes, the space “would be like a Foodie version of the Old Can Factory combined with the Brooklyn Creative league and the 3rd Ward.” Meanwhile, Whole Foods would get 75,000 square feet of space to have a food production space and a storefront, and the little brick landmark on 3rd Avenue would be turned into a “‘Museum of Industry’ to highlight industrial innovation.” Of course, Whole Foods Market owns the site and might not be all that keen on adopting these plans.
The Whole Foods War: Alternative Building Proposal [Gowanus Your Face Off]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Small-scale manufacturing and industry such as garment and food production is alive and well in Bushwick and LIC. Their biggest threat is losing space to residential at higher rents. There is much talk of bringing some manufacturing back to the US from China, as rising wages and transportation costs erode the savings of offshoring. They’d be likely to choose other areas first such as North Carolina.

  2. i agree with you on that.

    if you go down third street towards smith anyone can see how dead manufacturing and industrial space is. instead of these “think tank” people messing with a vacant site, that would actually be good for everyone, they should focus their energy on some of the empty industrial buildings in the area.

  3. i agree with you on that.

    if you go down third street towards smith anyone can see how dead manufacturing and industrial space is. instead of these “think tank” people messing with a vacant site, that would actually be good for everyone, they should focus their energy on some of the empty industrial buildings in the area.

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