176-Woodward-Ave1

On the heels of this new luxury rental development, plans to convert the Knockdown Center into an event space, as well as concerns of gentrification coming to the neighborhood, there is a fear that Ridgewood’s IBZ zone is threatened. (IBZs are an initiative developed in 2006 to prevent manufacturing businesses from getting priced out of the neighborhood, with the city’s promise not to rezone those areas.) The Times Ledger reports: “One or two high-profile projects like the Knockdown Center may be enough to tip the balance of an IBZ, according to Adam Friedman, executive director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, an organization that promotes equitable and sustainable development.”

Friedman’s fear is that as the neighborhood becomes more and more developed, property owners will start rising rents accordingly. Manufacturing businesses will assume their time in the neighborhood is limited, and stop investing in the area. Do you think Ridgewood will follow the similar path of its neighbors, Bushwick and Williamsburg, in which much of the manufacturing space has been turned over to housing?

New Neighbors may Pinch Industrial Zone [Times Ledger]


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