Whole Foods Still An Option for Gowanus

Decontamination efforts are well underway for a toxic Gowanus site, slated to house Brooklyn's first Whole Foods. But though the hole should be contaminant-free by April, the upscale grocery purveyor won't confirm its move to the neighborhood. “Everything I know is that Whole Foods is committed to building on that site,” said John Bogdanski, an environmental consultant for the store. “Still, there is always the option to sell the property.”

Bogdanski added that keeping the site will help the company, come tax time. “The [clean-up] tax credits pay over the course of 10 years,” he told the Brooklyn Paper. “If the site is sold, those tax credits move with the land [to the new owner].” But before neighborhood residents can graze at the store's expensive salad bar, it will have to find a partner—already it's been looking for two years.

Whole Foods began cleaning up the site—that has housed a lumber yard, an auto repair shop and an oil company—in 2005. The work that remains includes digging out contaminants, some lodged as deep as 14 feet, as well as three old oil tanks.

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By Sabrina Jaszi in News on February 23, 2010 12:45 PM

Comments [rss]

TeddyNYC

They should just sell the property and open a store on Atlantic Ave. & Boerum.

Will

I'm guessing Whole Foods is going to sit on this land for as long as possible, and then sell to a developer. Fortunately there are a lot of other options in Brooklyn for decent fruit and vegetables.

http://brooklynbrood.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/did-karl-marx-really-like-organic-lacinato-kale/

WorksInDUMBO

Wow, that blog you link to... really?? "Indie rocker to Indie father"? barf... these must be the people who are mad about their strollers not being allowed in Union Hall. Someone needs to tell that guy that not everyone in this borough shops at the freakin miserable-assed Park Slope food co-op.

(can one of you old gothamist cranks go on there and yell at them to go back to Ohio?)

Will

I'm not sure how you thought comparing the Park Slope Food Coop to Soviet forced labor was an endorsement...but I agree, a lot of people DO NOT like the food coop, hence the post sharing info on other options.

WorksInDUMBO

It says "When most people think about organic food in Brooklyn they usually think the Park Slope Food Coop." Did it ever occur to that guy that Brooklyn extends BEYOND Park Slope, and that there may even possibly be some people who have never even heard of the PS Food Co-op?

TeddyNYC

That's how it looks to me. This area is not as desirable as Park Slope or the Heights/Cobble Hill area for a high-end supermarket.

MidC Frank

This damned Gowanus Whole foods epic is endless -- does anyone really care about this story?

Furthermore, just get your midwestern asses out to Fairway in Red Hook -- a superior source of food.

ihaveopinions

My midwestern ass doesn't have a midwestern car, making it a big pain in said midwestern ass to get to Red Hook. Luckily, my midwestern forbearance allows me to shop at any number of the equally fresh, cheaper stores all over Brooklyn without complaining.