With rezoning looming, RFR asks over $200M for Gowanus assemblage

As the Gowanus rezoning gains momentum, Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding is looking to cash out on a three-parcel assemblage in the area for more than $200 million.

The company bought the 140,000-square-foot parcel at 175-225 Third Street from SL Green Realty and Kushner Companies for $115 million last April, property records show. SL Green, LIVWRK and Kushner acquired the polluted parking lot from developer Herbert Chaves for $72.5 million in 2014, in a deal brokered by Trump fixer Michael Cohen.

“Gowanus is extraordinarily hot right now, and this is probably the best location,” JLL’s Bob Knakal, whose team is marketing the property, told Commercial Observer. The parcel is across the street from a Whole Foods and next to the “Gowanus Batcave,” an abandoned power station being developed into a contemporary art center.

If the rezoning is approved, the development site could accommodate an 800,000-square-foot, mixed-use residential and commercial project, Knakal told CO. The property is also in an opportunity zone and might be able to benefit from federal tax breaks.

The Gowanus rezoning plan has faced local opposition, as some residents demand more investment in affordable housing and others question the wisdom of encouraging development in a flood zone.

Earlier this year, Aby Rosen bought the Chrysler Building for $151 million, a steep decrease from the $800 million investment the former owner, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, made more than a decade earlier. [CO] — Kevin Sun