Things are changing fast in Sunset Park, a once-thriving middle-class neighborhood showing the first signs of a rebirth.

The area lost its principal commercial corridor to the building of the elevated Gowanus Expressway, and never fully recovered.

More recently, the area has lagged behind popular neighborhoods to the north like Park Slope, where new development and brownstone restoration projects by the hundreds have driven real estate prices through the roof.

In a change of course, Sunset Park garnered unusual citywide attention earlier this year when the city announced plans for a major overhaul of the neighborhood’s waterfront.

Then September 30, the City Council voted to rezone a 128-block section of the neighborhood to protect two- and three-story homes from overdevelopment.

Protecting the neighborhood’s residential character, while growing its industrial base, could herald a resurgence, said Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez, who represents the neighborhood.

In a statement on the rezone, Gonzalez said the measure would also protect affordable housing in Sunset Park, something vital to attracting new residents and keeping existing ones from moving out.

“I am encouraged by the administration’s commitment to not only provide affordable housing incentives but also to provide the necessary resources to form an anti-displacement task force so that our neighbors can continue to call Sunset Park their home,” Gonzalez said.

She added, “local residents and all the community groups of Sunset Park should be proud of all their diligent work addressing concerns over new non-contextual development.”

Councilwoman Melinda Katz, chair of the Land Use Committee, said besides preserving the neighborhood’s family feel, the rezone would also boost the area’s economy by creating “opportunities and incentives for affordable housing and an increase in local retail.”

Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, said the rezone would “encourage properly scaled new development.”

(Daniel Bush)