One of the largest buildings yet to emerge from the rezoning of Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood cleared a major hurdle this month. On April 12, 2026, the New York City Planning Commission approved plans for 175 Third Street, a 27-story mixed-use development designed by Bjarke Ingels Group that would bring more than 1,000 apartments — roughly 250 of them permanently affordable — to the banks of the Gowanus Canal.

The project, from developers Charney Companies and Tavros, spans roughly 1 million square feet and would rise about 281 feet along Third Street between the canal and Third Avenue. BIG, the firm founded by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, is designing the building in collaboration with dencityworks | architecture; the plan also calls for new publicly accessible waterfront open space, with landscape work involving James Corner Field Operations, the firm behind the High Line.

The design

BIG’s scheme pairs connected concrete-and-glass towers with gridded facades, chamfered corners and exposed structural elements, stepping down toward the water. The developers have described roughly 28,000 square feet of publicly accessible canalfront open space, designed in partnership with the city Parks Department, plus roof terraces on several upper floors.

The waterfront esplanade is a recurring requirement of the Gowanus plan: the 2021 rezoning conditioned much of the new development on building out a continuous public walkway along a canal that remains a federal Superfund cleanup site. Each new tower is expected to contribute its segment.

Affordability and the rezoning

About a quarter of the apartments — roughly 250 units — would be permanently affordable. That share reflects the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing rules that apply across the rezoned area, which require a set percentage of below-market units in new residential buildings.

The 2021 Gowanus Neighborhood Plan transformed a low-slung district of warehouses, auto shops and industrial parcels into one of the city’s busiest development zones. City Planning has counted a pipeline of more than 8,000 housing units across the rezoned area, with over 3,000 designated affordable. 175 Third Street is among the single largest buildings to advance, sitting alongside other major projects including a separate Hudson Companies proposal at 20 Fifth Street and the 955-unit, fully affordable Gowanus Green development further along the canal.

What’s next

The Planning Commission’s approval is a step within the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), not the final word. The application now moves to the City Council, where land-use votes are typically decided by deference to the local council member. If the Council signs off, the developers can proceed toward financing and construction.

The timing also intersects with the city’s tax-incentive landscape. Large rental projects that include affordable housing can qualify for the 485-x property-tax exemption that replaced the expired 421-a program, and the deepest benefits accrue to projects that break ground promptly — giving developers across Gowanus an incentive to push approved towers into construction.

For a neighborhood that spent decades as an industrial backwater defined by a polluted canal, the steady march of approvals has been dramatic. 175 Third Street, if built as approved, would add a roughly 1,000-unit, Ingels-designed anchor to a waterfront the city is betting it can remake into a dense residential district.

Verification

Frequently Asked Questions

What was approved at 175 Third Street?
The City Planning Commission approved a 27-story, roughly 1-million-square-foot mixed-use development yielding more than 1,000 apartments along the Gowanus Canal, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). About 250 of the units would be permanently affordable, and the plan includes a publicly accessible waterfront esplanade.
Who is developing it?
The developers are Charney Companies and Tavros, two firms that have assembled a large pipeline of projects in Gowanus since the 2021 rezoning. Bjarke Ingels Group is the architect, working with dencityworks | architecture, with landscape and waterfront design involving Field Operations.
Is the project final?
No. The City Planning Commission's April 12, 2026 approval is one step in the city's land-use review process (ULURP). The application still must go to the City Council, which typically defers to the local member, before it can move toward construction.
How does this fit the Gowanus rezoning?
The 2021 Gowanus rezoning opened a formerly industrial neighborhood to dense residential development, with a pipeline of more than 8,000 units, over 3,000 of them affordable. 175 Third Street is among the largest single buildings to advance under that plan.