Yesterday blogger McBrooklyn posted a progress report on the $25,000 emergency repair job going on at 100 Clark Street in Brooklyn Heights. As you may recall, this is the site that required a dramatic emergency demolition over Memorial Day weekend, despite the fact that it’s been widely known to be a ticking time bomb for years. (The current repair work does not require LPC approval because of its emergency nature.) What isn’t discussed in the McBrooklyn post, and what hasn’t been widely noted, is the real reason behind why the owner of the building, Penson Corp. sued to stop DOB from tearing the entire building. The short answer: Money (of course). The long answer: The building in its pre-demolished state was about 8,000 square feet. According to Property Shark, current building codes, which would have to be followed if the building were rebuilt from scratch, would only allow for about 6,700 square feet of space. That 1,300-square-foot difference is worth well over a million bucks in this part of town. If Penson wins the court case, it will get to have its cake and eat it too: The rent-stabilized tenants will be out and it’ll get to restore the building to its overbuilt state.
Emergency Demo at 100 Clark Clears Tenants [Brownstoner] GMAP
‘Dereliction of Duty’ in Brooklyn Heights [Brownstoner]
Rebuilding the Half-Demolished 100 Clark Street [McBrooklyn]