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Lavender Lake Bar Could be Replaced by Offices and Shops, Records Show

By Leslie Albrecht | October 10, 2016 4:48pm | Updated on October 11, 2016 5:30pm
 Lavender Lake bar at 383 Carroll St. in Gowanus.
Lavender Lake bar at 383 Carroll St. in Gowanus.
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Facebook/Lavender Lake

GOWANUS — The landlord of popular neighborhood watering hole Lavender Lake is considering tearing down the bar and replacing it with offices and shops, according to an application on file with the state's Department of Environmental Conservation.

Property owner Daniel Tinneny has applied for DEC's Brownfield Cleanup Program, which gives financial incentives to developers who clean and build on land in "economically blighted" communities.

The program was used to remove contamination beneath the Gowanus Whole Foods and at the new luxury apartment building 365 Bond.

Tinneny's application pertains to a 2.12-acre parcel that includes Lavender Lake and several businesses between President and Carroll streets and the polluted Gowanus Canal.

Applicants to the Brownfield Cleanup Program must explain to the DEC what they want to do with the property, and Tinneny's application states, "The contemplated project includes the construction of two multi-story buildings designated for mixed commercial use including parking, retail space, offices, and an accessible roof deck."

The application explains that the existing buildings would be demolished to make way for the new development, which may also include "open space, parks and landscaped areas along the Gowanus Canal waterfront," according to the application, which is a public record.

Tinneny declined to comment, but his attorney, Jed Marcus, said that despite the vision outlined in the Brownfield Cleanup Program application, the property's future is still very much up in the air. Tinneny hasn't filed any applications for permits to build on the site, Marcus said.

"There's no development plan in place," Marcus said. "All we're doing is making the site safer and cleaner for everybody. ... By doing the Brownfield Cleanup Program, he's putting his site in position to be an appealing development site."

The application also states that "[t]he proposed redevelopment project is still in the early planning stages and is subject to change as potential zoning changes materialize."

The city recently launched a study of Gowanus that could trigger a rezoning of the industrial neighborhood for residential development.

The DEC has invited the public to weigh in on the cleanup plan for the Lavender Lake property, which will remove pollution left in the soil from its past use as a coal yard, ironworks and auto repair shop.

Lavender Lake co-owner Adam Sober declined to comment on Tinneny’s plans for the property, but said that development in the area seemed inevitable, especially after the opening of 365 Bond, the first new residential development on the Gowanus Canal.

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