Gowanus Whole Foods is a Go

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/11/breaking_gowanu.php

Discuss amongst yourselves.

This is good news.

However, I want to know that they are going to put in the little historic headquarters building. (the only building left on the site)

Wholesome food and polluted canal; one cancels the other out.

....it becomes a Safeway or a Pathmark.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20101129/REAL_ESTATE/101129919

MOD NOTE: Same topics merged.

I'll believe it when I see it. The canal was only just Superfunded last year and the total cleanup will take almost 10 years. Do you really want to buy your food from a place built on one of the most polluted canals in the country?

The superfund project is going to take a long time. For the current plan check out this video http://gothamist.com/2010/03/24/video_gowanus.php. It's probably safe to say taht anything boardering the canal is going to continue to be contaminated until this work is done. I'm surprised that they want to sell food on top of and next to a contaminated site. Also there is an ongoing problem with raw sewage being released into the canal during heavy rainstorms. You can see that here

Actually it's this http://gothamist.com/2010/03/24/video_gowanus.php video. the one before this is raw sewage being released into the canal during a heavy rain storm back in september.

This is not good news. Where am I going to dump my old motor oil and used car batteries now?

i'd continue to dump my motor oil and batteries in the same place if i were you. whole foods is a total rip off.

I think it would be difficult to do that without someone seeing me. Every time I've ever been to a Whole Foods there have been people there.

The site is "now fully cleaned and remediated"? Just when has there been any work done on the site?

They moved some dirt around and filled a couple of dumpsters with some cut up plants from the site. There is still a horribly contaminated canal right next to it.

I like to think they won't be getting their fish supplies out of the canal! I for one would love to see a Wholefoods here. Might motivate them to clean the place up too.

It'll be interesting to see how this impacts real estate down on 3rd ave- as it is, there are increasingly few rental deals to be found down there, i'm sure everything will jump as soon as this place opens.

I, for one, am excited about the wholefoods. Its close enough to me to be a legit shopping source (with a granny cart, of course) and it will also fill the salad-bar niche that this neighborhood so desperately needs (at an unreasonably high price, of course.)