The biggest building in the Gowanus rezoning is underway. Charney Companies and Tavros held a groundbreaking in late September 2026 for 175 Third Street, a 27-story, roughly 1.1-million-square-foot rental tower on the Gowanus Canal with about 1,100 apartments. Bjarke Ingels Group designed it, and earthwork has started.
It’s the fifth tower in the developers’ Gowanus Wharf campus, and the most complicated. The site has already passed through two owners and a foreclosure fight. RFR bought it in 2018 for $115 million, ran environmental remediation and pulled excavation and foundation permits, then agreed to sell in 2024 after Madison Realty Capital moved to foreclose on an $80 million mortgage. Charney and Tavros closed on it in May 2025 for $164 million.
Project Scope
BIG’s horseshoe-shaped massing opens toward the canal around a stepped internal courtyard, with rooftop terraces, a rooftop lounge and an outdoor pool. Dencityworks is working with BIG on the design. About a quarter of the units, roughly 250, will be permanently affordable, tied to the 421-a benefits RFR secured for the site.
The base adds ground-floor retail and subsidized artist space. Life Time has leased a three-story fitness club and spa of more than 85,000 square feet. Field Operations is designing a 28,000-square-foot public waterfront esplanade with the NYC Parks Department.
The money closed in June. Apollo and Affinius Capital provided $600 million of construction debt, and RXR put in $185 million of equity, with JLL arranging the package. Bisnow put total capitalization at $1 billion including sponsor equity. Incoco Capital is also a co-developer. No general contractor has been named publicly.
Why It Matters
The 2021 Gowanus rezoning upzoned about 80 blocks of a mostly industrial canal neighborhood, and this is its largest single result so far. Once it’s done, Charney and Tavros will control roughly 2,200 units around the canal.
It’s also a big bet on a still-active Superfund site. Building 1,100 apartments next to a canal under federal cleanup puts a premium on the resilient design the developers are promising, and on the foundation and excavation work that comes first.
The $785 million in outside capital is the clearest signal. Apollo and RXR don’t write checks that size for a Brooklyn rental tower unless they think the rents hold.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Charney Companies and Tavros (with Incoco Capital) |
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| Owner / Client | Charney Companies, Tavros and Incoco Capital |
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| Architect | Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) with dencityworks |
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| Consultants | Field Operations (Landscape Architecture)
JLL (Debt Placement) |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Funding Source | Private |
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