Big Changes on Horizon for Gowanus

Already showing signs of acceleration, Gowanus could potentially be transformed into an area similar to Williamsburg when boutique hotel Gowanus Inn and Yard and Whole Foods open in the next few years. The Real Deal has the scoop: It interviewed six residential and commercial brokers about the future of Gowanus. “The area is clearly on the fast track to gentrification, with trendy stores and restaurants like Littleneck clam shack, Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue and the bakery Four & Twenty Blackbirds attracting attention, as well as new retailers like Whole Foods, Dinosaur Barb-B-Que and, yes, the hipster-sounding 40,000-square-foot Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club gearing up to open,” said The Real Deal. Despite destruction by Hurricane Sandy, prices have already spiked in the area in the past year: “Townhouses are now hitting the market for at least $1 million, whereas last year they had asking prices in the $800,000 range.” If a proposed rezoning to allow more residential development goes through, “prices will skyrocket,” according to Brenton Realty President Ruthanne Pigott. How do you predict the neighborhood will change? Will the infamous polluted canal put any damper on development?
Gowanus Gets Ready [TRD]