Call it the Gowanus Hotel District: New One Rising on Third Ave.

Maybe it's time to start calling Gowanus the Hotel District. After a reader emailed us some photos of a fenced site on Third Avenue at President Street in Gowanus (photo of which is above), we checked and found that another hotel will rise on the corner. Our reader wrote:

So, I noticed some wood fencing on the corner of 3rd ave & President street. Does anyone know what's going to be there? I keep hearing rumors of another hotel. Also, a property 2 houses over between Pres and Union has been completely gutted.

The corner property hasn't changed hands in decades, but plans were recently submitted for an 18,000 square foot, four-story hotel designed by architect Michael Kang of Flushing. Mr. Kang has worked quite a bit with Samuel Chang of McSam Hotels. In fact, Mr. Chang has developed both the Holiday Inn Express on Union Street and the Comfort Inn on Butler Street. (That's the Holiday Inn Express poking over the other buildings in the photo.) McSam and Mr. Chang, however, appear to have nothing to do with this hotel; legal documents show a gentleman named Sanjay Patel as the principal. Things might go a little slowly, however, as submitted plans for the hotel were disapproved in late February. (As for the other building the reader mentioned, records show it's owned by the Fifth Avenue Committee, so it's safe to assume it will be one of the CDC's affordable housing developments.) The new hotel would also be within shouting distance of the Hotel Le Bleu, soon to open on Fourth Avenue. Who knew Gowanus would turn out to be such a hotspot for hotels?

If you see something interesting in your Brooklyn neighborhood, Gowanus Lounge is all ears. Get in touch with us at gowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com.