The City Council approved the Grand Street downzoning yesterday, despite a last-minute opposition campaign mounted by a group of small-scale Williamsburg landowners.

The proposal to limit building heights to 4-6 stories was pushed through in less than a year to stop construction of two high-rise residential buildings designed by the neighborhood’s most ubiquitous architect, Karl Fischer.

While the downzoning will affect 250 properties in the neighborhood and cost $400 million, according to the new group calling themselves the Grand Home and Business Owners' Organization, not all Williamsburg developers are against the move.  read more »