Developer Ailanthus Files Plans to Build 400 Apartments at 424 Hoyt Street in Gowanus

Residential towers grow in Brooklyn. 

Affordable and mixed-income housing developer Ailanthus has filed a rezoning application with the New York City Department of City Planning to build a 17-story, 175-foot-tall mixed-use residential development at 424 Hoyt Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 

If approved, the building would have 400 apartment units — of which 100 to 120 would be affordable — as well as a 46,000-square-foot public school and 14,000 square feet of commercial retail space, according to the application filing. The application still has several steps to get through before approval is granted. 

“As noted in the Mamdani administration’s recently released report, New York City needs to create 700,000 new housing units over the next 10 years. While Gowanus contributed thousands of units in the last few years, Community Board 6, which encompasses Gowanus, was identified as one of three districts in Brooklyn with the least access to affordable homes, setting a target for thousands more units to be created there,” a spokesperson for Ailanthus told Commercial Observer.

Two Trees Management acquired 424 Hoyt Street in July 2008 for $7.7 million, according to property records. Ailanthus, led by Ofer Cohen, Vivian Liao and Tucker Reed, has a ground lease at the site from Two Trees. Currently, there is a one-story automotive repair building and a vehicle storage facility on the property, which is allowed 91,800 buildable square feet.

Two Trees Management declined Commercial Observer’s request for comment. 

Gowanus has been in the midst of a glow-up ever since its rezoning plan was initiated, not to mention a 2013 environmental cleanup plan designed to transform one of the city’s grittiest areas. The 82-block redevelopment plan passed in November of 2021. There have been several luxury and affordable housing developments delivered in Gowanus, including the Gowanus Wharf campus, 544 Carroll Street and 499 President Street. 

The new housing plans also seem to come as part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s goal to add about 700,000 new homes to New York City over the next decade.

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.