Why Park Slope and Gowanus Are Breaking Land Price Records
Park Slope and Gowanus have been awash in ground-up residential projects since Fourth Avenue was rezoned for mid-rise condos in 2003. Today, the projects keep coming--and not just on Fourth.
CPEX’s Sean Kelly tells Bisnow it’s driven by a dearth of for-sale housing left over from the tight credit market of the recession. Mortgages were harder to get, so rental units are a lot of what got built. As that eases, Sean says, everybody wants to buy. Game-changers just off the Fourth Avenue corridor like the Whole Foods at Third Avenue and 3rd Street have also driven up land prices. SL Green nabbed a 95% stake in 175-225 3rd St in Gowanus last year for $72.5M. Kushner Cos and LVWRK control a 5% stake in that project, zoned for mixed-use.
Brooklyn Community District 6, which covers Park Slope, Gowanus and Red Hook, saw a 4.8% jump in population from 2000 to 2010. Don’t bet on a slowdown in the density spike in the second half of this decade. Earlier this month, CPEX announced that American Development Group coughed up $8.3M for 20k SF at 346 13th St. The $413 PSF set a neighborhood record. ADG plans to build townhouses, condos and a garage.
Several blocks away at 189-195 Prospect Ave, plans are on file with the city for a 129-unit residential building. The Rabsky Group recently bought six adjoined lots at the site for $15.5M. Sean tells us the remaining land will close in March in a second buy of six lots at 575-581 Fourth Ave, for about $8M. Sean says. "I think five years from now you're not gonna recognize the area."
We’re as curious as you are to see what the area will look like when these projects and others open their doors.
