In Gowanus, One Block and Many Changes

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Seventh Street between 2nd and 3rd avenues represents one aspect of the evolving nature of Gowanus that doesn’t involve hotels or housing. Over the past few years a couple of the block’s buildings have been revamped for office and light-industry purposes, and work on a music venue and nightclub in two other spaces is currently in progress. The Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment recently held a grand opening for its new space in one of the block’s repurposed industrial properties, joining The Mac Support Store, which set up shop in the same building last spring. Closer to 2nd Ave., The Sweater Factory features “post-industrial work lofts.” Across the street from the Sweater Factory, the owners of Union Hall are working on a new venue that’s set to open in the fall. The venue has tremendously high ceilings, unobstructed sightlines, and a stage that juts out onto the main floor. On the corner of 3rd Avenue, meanwhile, the owner of Manhattan’s Save the Robots is reportedly turning an old bodega into a nightclub. In between all the new and in-progress ventures, there’s still a steady hum of manufacturing business evident on the street and in many of its warehouses. GMAP
Photo of new Union Hall space by cortney