Notice Of Upcoming Work At Lightstone Development Site In Gowanus

Renderings courtesy of Lightstone Group

It would appear that Lightstone Group is moving forward with its 700-unit rental development on the shores of the Gowanus Canal.
A notice of upcoming site work on the development site located at  363-365 Bond Street and 400 Carroll Street in Gowanus was sent out by Community Board 6's District Manager Craig Hammerman this past Wednesday.

The work is starting today, Monday, and will involve demolition, soil boring, asbestos abatement, and construction of fencing.

Below is the entire notice:
Beginning Monday, December 2nd, 2013, The Lightstone Group will begin pre-construction site preparation at its Gowanus property, located at 363-365 Bond Street and 400 Carroll Street.

The site preparation work that will be conducted includes:

363 Bond Street:
Completion of sidewalk bridge & fence installation
Routine asbestos abatement on roof and inside building, performed by personnel in full protective gear as required by code

365 Bond Street:
Construction fence relocation
Demolition start
Soil boring at bulkhead
Subcontractor walk-throughs

400 Carroll Street:
Deliveries to construction trailer
Brick mock-up installation
Soil boring at bulkhead
Routine asbestos abatement on roof and inside building, performed by personnel in full protective gear as required by code

Langan Engineering will oversee the asbestos abatement and ensure that the work is conducted in accordance with standard procedures.

Lettire/Pride will conduct the demolition work.

Hours of work: The work will be conducted between the hours of 7:00am and 6:00pm Monday through Friday. On Saturday work may be conducted between 9:00am and 6:00pm.

A "Grove" No More: Gowanus Site Entirely Cleared Of Trees. Is Construction Next?

Before...

This Morning

Over the last few summers, the lot situated at 400 Carroll Street at the edge of the Gowanus Canal has been used as an outdoor venue for concerts and other cultural events. Coined the "Gowanus Grove" by the event's organizers, it attracted huge crowds every Sunday.
On the venue's web site, the Grove was described as a "little slice of paradise in the middle of industrial Brooklyn" and as recently as last Sunday, hundreds of people were enjoying "its bucolic setting".

Well, no more. In the last few days, all trees have been felled and the land cleared.
The work is no doubt related to the environmental remediation that needs to be undertaken on the site  before it can be built on.  In addition, the toxins that accumulated over decades of industrial usage of the site need to be addresses as part of the EPA Superfund clean-up of the canal.
A truck from PAL, an environmental remediation contracting firm based in Long Island City, was parked on the lot this morning.

400 Carroll Street, along with several other parcels on the two blocks between Carroll Street and 2nd Street between Bond Street and the canal, were spot- rezoned from industrial to mixed-use a few years ago to clear the way for residential buildings.
After the first developer, Toll Brothers, Lightstone Group stepped in and intends to build 700 rental units on the two blocks. A rendering of the development can be seen below.

So no more trees, no more 'bucolic setting', as the "Grove" is swallowed up by yet more development.

Proposed Lightstone Development next to the Gowanus Canal (credit: Lightstone Group)