Major Affordable Housing Project Tackles Crisis In Gowanus: Officials

BROOKLYN, NY — State officials are lauding Gov. Kathy Hochul, who visited Brooklyn on Tuesday to announce a series of housing developments that will move forward under the Gowanus Neighborhood Mixed-Income Housing Development Program.

The governor’s announcement — which included plans for more than 5,300 units of housing, including more than 1,400 affordable units in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn — was followed by the groundbreaking of 320 and 340 Nevins Street – a 654-unit project.

"We don't have a housing shortage at all, we have a housing crisis on steroids. There is no other way to describe this," Hochul said. "The only way to fix this crisis is to build our way out, and until we have a statewide solution, I will keep working to give Mayor Adams and leaders across our state the tools they need to let them build."

The Nevins Street construction is a mixed-use two-tower complex of 505,000 square feet on 2.3 acres in Gowanus, fronting the canal. The structure will have 650 residential units, including 154 affordable units, as well as ground-floor retail spaces.

The two sites on Nevins Street are expected to be finished by June 2026, Hochul said.

"The iconic line from the movie Field of Dreams, ‘if you build it, they will come,’ doesn’t just apply to a cornfield in Iowa. It’s happening right here in Brooklyn thanks to the leadership of Governor Hochul," Manny Pastreich, the president of the workers union 32BJ, said. "More affordable housing supply with good paying livable wage jobs is exactly what our state needs and I hope that today’s groundbreaking will help spur Albany into taking more action."

The Nevins Street property is one of several in Gowanus that developers have snatched up in recent years as a rezoning of the neighborhood, approved by the City Council back in 2021, loomed.

The rezoning — which faced lawsuits from opponents worried about mass development along the polluted canal, among other issues — is estimated to bring 5,300 new apartments to Gowanus.

The plans for Gowanus, however, were halted when the legislature allowed the 421-a tax abatement program to expire.

"That left nearly 40,000 possible new homes sitting in limbo," Hochul said.

After the tax break ended in June 2022, new housing construction declined starting that August, a recent study found.

"The loss of the 421-a tax abatement combined with high interest rates led to slower overall growth, though renovations and alterations have continued," the study states.

Read the full study here.

"Capital got more expensive. Banks were saying no. No one was willing to deal with the realities that it was a different world for developers. And now since the expiration of 421-a, the total unit filings have dropped 78 percent in two years," Hochul said. "So instead of getting out of our hole with all this equipment, we dug deeper into the hole. We're in deeper trouble now. Brought the momentum here at Gowanus to a screeching halt."

The governor announced that, in collaboration with state officials, they have devised a solution to revive these dormant projects: the Gowanus Neighborhood Mixed-Income Housing Development Program.

The program, which is supervised by Empire State Development, is currently moving forward with 18 specific project sites that received submissions last fall. The ESD Directors will assess and vote on each site's participation in the program, which will then be reviewed by the Public Authority Control Board.

A full list of projects can be found here.

"We've worked hard to ensure the housing that is built in Gowanus meets the needs of all the people that call this neighborhood home, and that developers create housing that is truly affordable and stays that way," State Senator Andrew Gounardes said about the news. "This is about more than just building housing. It's about building opportunities for families of all backgrounds to put down roots, live, and thrive here. This groundbreaking is a crucial step toward making that vision a reality."