Former Green Building Razed, Site Ready for Work on New 20-Story Apartment Building

A possibly century-old former brass foundry in Gowanus, which spanned from the canal to Bond Street and housed popular wedding venue the Green Building and restaurant Pig Beach BBQ, is no more.

A recent visit to 450 Union Street revealed the single-story brick building has been demolished and the lot cleared in preparation for building an apartment tower. Plans for the building appear to have changed.

A new-building permit filed with the Department of Buildings this month shows the owner now intends to put up a 20-story, 225-foot-tall apartment building rather than an eight-story one.

Although there was one excavator on site, no workers were present on a Friday afternoon, and it appeared excavation has not yet begun.

An application for a demolition permit for the early 20th century building was filed in December, the same month Brooklyn-based developer Tankhouse purchased the site for $40.65 million (ownership is listed under 2201 Union LLC), city records show. Demolition occurred earlier this year.

Pilot Real Estate Group sold the building and site to Tankhouse after claiming to have qualified for a 421-a tax exemption for a new eight-story apartment building on the site, The Real Deal reported in July. In April 2022, Pilot got approval for excavation, potentially allowing the project to slip in for the tax break ahead of the deadline, if work began in time.

Tankhouse co-founder Sam Alison-Mayne told The Real Deal in 2022 the firm plans a mixed-use development with a “significant” non-residential component on its new lot. Brownstoner reached out to Tankhouse for comment, but did not hear back by publication.

Tankhouse is known for another Gowanus development at 450 Warren Street, which was critically acclaimed for its architecture and incorporation of nature and outdoor space. The firm also has projects in Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn.

The property at 450 Union is one of a growing number of construction sites in the area, including next door at 313 Bond Street, where Rabsky Group plans a 22-story apartment building clocking in at 224 feet high, DOB filings show.

Following the City Council’s 2021 contentious rezoning of an 82-block swath of Gowanus, which allows the former industrial area to be developed with up to 30-story towers, the face of the neighborhood has already changed dramatically, and the number of lots circled by green construction fences indicate more changes to come.

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