The Plan: At 544 Carroll Street, a Pull Toward Nature in Gowanus

In its past life, Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood wasn’t so much a place for chic residents to put up their feet, but rather a polluted, industrial outskirt, the perfect backdrop for the opening of an episode of “Law & Order,” if you catch the drift. 

But now, thanks to rezoning initiatives in 2021 and developer investment since, Gowanus is becoming a thriving residential hub and a place that developer Avery Hall knew would be perfect for a luxury, ground-up residential development.

“We’ve always wanted to develop in Gowanus, but it was never zoned for residential,” said Jesse Wark, a founding partner of Avery Hall overseeing development and design. “There is enormous opportunity in Gowanus. It has been very cool to be part of a larger set of developers all making and integrating new things into the neighborhood, while still having some of the old anchors that people love down here.”

Avery Hall’s 544 Carroll is a 17-story mixed-use building with 133 apartments, 25 percent of which are designated as affordable housing.  The project took about 30 months to complete, from groundbreaking in 2023 to move-ins in October 2025.

The residence offers two- and three-bedroom units, with monthly rents ranging from over $4,000 for a one-bedroom to $12,500 for a three-bedroom. Condominium-level elements include an abundance of natural light, top amenities and carefully curated greenery throughout.

The nature and greenery aspects were key elements the team at Avery Hall wanted to highlight within the building. When you walk into the lobby, directly ahead before the private courtyard, sitting in the space just to the right of the front desk, is a large, aesthetically pleasing boulder — a strange thing to say about a rock, but you’ll understand when you see it — that helps make the connection to nature. 

“As New Yorkers, we are starved for nature at every turn,” Wark said. “So we’ve put an incredible amount of thought into the greenery and the plantings. It’s just meant to provide relief and be more like a refuge when you get home.”

Residents who call 544 Carroll Street home — the building was 60 percent leased at the time of publication — will also have access to over 6,000 square feet of amenities, including a fitness studio, a sunset deck, a coworking lounge, a movement studio, and a room with a TV, fireplace and comfortable couches. Residents also have access to an outdoor terrace. 

What the developer is calling a Great Room also has a kitchen and a dining area that tenants can reserve for private events. Children living at 544 Carroll will go bonkers for the “Kids Cave,” a massive playroom that features a realistic cave, with dim lighting and endless imaginative possibilities. You can absolutely picture a 5-year-old having a dinosaur-themed birthday party in that room. 

“We think a lot about families here,” Wark said. “And we’re very focused on a level of design that rarely exists. This is a condominium-level building that is a rental, and that’s something that we have developed and [are] really seeing how much demand there is for it.”

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