Three-Building Complex Revealed for 459 Smith Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn

New renderings have been revealed for 459 Smith Street, a three-building residential complex in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Designed by Hill West Architects and developed by Lantower Residential, the project consists of seven-, 23-, and 29-story structures yielding a total of nearly 900 units, along with ground-floor retail. The property is located on the western shore of the Gowanus Canal and bounded by Huntington Street to the south and Smith Street to the west. An extension of Nelson Street will cut through the middle of the site and intersect with an extension of Luquer Street to the north.

The above main rendering looks east at the two main towers, with the 29-story structure on the right and its 23-story sibling on the left. The buildings are depicted with matching façades composed largely of floor-to-ceiling glass framed by grids of earth-toned paneling and dark red horizontal banding. Both towers feature multifaceted designs incorporating several setbacks and numerous stacks of glass-lined balconies. Mechanical bulkheads will sit atop each structure’s roof.

The final seven-story building is shown as a gray volume between the towers, with the elevated subway tracks running in front of the development.

The below diagram details the layout of the development, which will include a new public esplanade along the Gowanus Canal connecting to the plazas at the center of the property. The seven-story structure’s lack of residential entrances, as well as the “GMU Community Arts Center” space outlined in the subsequent ground-floor diagram, suggest this building will contain solely commercial and community facility space.

459 Smith Street. Designed by Hill West Architects.

459 Smith Street. Designed by Hill West Architects.

The empty gray space on the righthand side of the following rendering of Marvel’s proposed Gowanus Green complex marks the location of 459 Smith Street’s 23-story tower. This building will share a parcel with two mid-rise structures on the southern end of the neighboring development. The sites for both of these complexes are currently vacant.

Gowanus Green. Designed by Marvel Architects. Rendering courtesy of lemonsbucket.

The following two elevation diagrams depict the southern elevations of the 23-story and 29-story towers. The third diagram shows both towers’ narrower eastern faces.

459 Smith Street. Designed by Hill West Architects.

459 Smith Street. Designed by Hill West Architects.

459 Smith Street. Designed by Hill West Architects.

A list of amenities has not been confirmed, but the diagrams show bike storage, a package room, a full-sized indoor basketball court, lobby lounges, and outdoor swimming pools on the eighth floor of the 23-story building and the atop the 28th-floor roof deck of its taller counterpart. Other features include dedicated storm water detention rooms, an enclosed parking garage, and an on-site leasing office.

Lantower Residential, a subsidiary of the Canadian H&R REIT, purchased the property for $76.5 million following the bankruptcy of its previous developer, All Year Management.

The development site is located one block north of the elevated Smith–9th Streets station, which is served by the F and G trains.

A construction timeline for 459 Smith Street has yet to be announced, and no details have been revealed on the type or affordability of its residential units.

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