Content area
Full Text
THE CITY'S DECISION TO postpone the cleanup of Brooklyn's environmentally troubled Gowanus Canal could slow housing development in the area.
The city Department of Environmental Protection was supposed to launch a three-year project in July, but last month postponed its start until 2009.
The result, developers say, is that new condos and rental apartments slated to go on the market by 2008 might be pushed back along with the DEP project.
"Real estate is cyclical, and the four-year delay may in essence delay the timing of delivery of muchneeded housing product to the Brooklyn marketplace," explains Sara Mirsky, director of development for Leviev Boymelgreen, which plans approximately 400 units of market-rate and affordable housing along the canal.
Water quality important
Ms. Mirsky says that her company, which originally hoped to finish its Gowanus Village...