A variety of housing types creates the diversity necessary to convince the City of New York to divest itself of a land that was formerly owned by the Brooklyn Union Gas Company and was later converted into a public place.

Planning a large civic project in a city as unique as New York requires the support of the Mayor, City Councilman, Assemblyman, Local Political Groups, the Community Board and the City Planning Commission.

With much remediation and a now cleaned Gowanus Canal behind the site, a large tract of vacant land raised public interest, typically followed by concerns of overcrowding, street congestion, and a burden on municipal services in the immediate area.

To diffuse this concern, the program embraces a variety of housing styles ranging from individual town-homes and small-scale three and four-family brownstone residences, through mid-rise loft residences along the perimeter of the site, near the elevated train tracks, to a seniors assisted-living building along the canal and a block of subsidized rental apartments. A block of market-rate condominiums completes the mix and helps to stabilize financing for the overall development.

All these contribute to the diversity sought by those who participated in the development process.