GOWANUS MIX

To preserve the neighborhood’s unique character, we will  maintain the “Gowanus Mix” of artists, craftspeople, makers, and light industries that call Gowanus home.

The City’s rezoning incentivizes new developments to include space for these uses, such as light industrial and arts-related activities, maker spaces, community facility space, and repair and production services.  With the Gowanus Mix, new commercial space and the new residential buildings, the rezoning is expected to generate 3,000 jobs, including many good-paying union jobs. The waterfront property owners have committed to employing union labor in their buildings. More than 300,000 square feet of Gowanus Mix space in the rezoning area will be dedicated to light manufacturing, non-profit, arts and maker uses.

Thanks to a historic agreement between local cultural organization Arts Gowanus and many, mainly waterfront, property owners, affordable artist studios and a community arts center will be provided in the Gowanus Rezoning area, ensuring that Gowanus’s vibrant arts community will continue to flourish and grow.

“We are thrilled that this rezoning will allow artists to continue to thrive in Gowanus. We have been actively fighting artist displacement in the community for years and there is a great need for affordable artist workspaces. The Community Benefits Agreement…will ensure Gowanus continues to be a vibrant and creative neighborhood for artists of all income levels.”

— Johnny Thornton, Executive Director, Arts Gowanus