The Schaefer Brewery Area in Williamsburg Brooklyn was an area of abandoned warehouses along the East River that New York City wanted to use as a spur to development. Illegal conversions of factory and warehouse buildings had begun in the area. The Development Plan studied approximately six acres of land for new zoning to allow for residential use, and a rezoning action was approved for the proposed changes.

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The Development Plan was adopted in 2001, and the rezoning of the Brewery site was approved in 2001, followed by the rezoning of the Winery site in 2006.