70 Lefferts Place Now a Hostel
It’s been a rough few years for 70 Lefferts Place, or, more precisely, the developer who’s owned it for the last four and a half years. To refresh, the house traded for $2,400,000 in May 2006 and soon thereafter plans were announced to tear down the Civil War-era gem. A last-minute effort to landmark the…
It’s been a rough few years for 70 Lefferts Place, or, more precisely, the developer who’s owned it for the last four and a half years. To refresh, the house traded for $2,400,000 in May 2006 and soon thereafter plans were announced to tear down the Civil War-era gem. A last-minute effort to landmark the house ended up being successful, with the designation being finalized in December 2006. Within a month, the property was back on the market. It never sold, though, and in April 2009 a Lis Pendens (the first step in the foreclosure process) was filed, revealing that the owner was on the hook for a $2,010,000 loan. We hadn’t heard much about the property since then until a few days ago when a neighbor brought this online listing for a hostel to our attention. According to the website, for $25 a night, you can have a spot in one of the many bunkbeds. The only problem is that this place doesn’t have a C of O for a hotel or even a rooming house, as far as we can tell. We also bet that the lenders would be curious to know how much the owner is renting out the place to the hostel operators for.
I think we all a little peeved with brownie’s j’accuse act today because it’s so arbitrary. I find it suspect that, in a place like Brooklyn where occupancy contrary to the zoning ordinance is commonplace, Mister B would home in on this particular property.
It doesn’t surprise me seeing this property once again, the topic of big discussion. What is the big deal!!Really! The property is well cared for by international occupants who happen to love what they do while providing space for folks abroad to discover NYC…Brooklyn. The very same folks who bunk here spend their $$$ at the Brooklyn Flea and countless other business in the borough. But of course, people with ill intentions and you know who you are… want to stir up the pot here at 70 Lefferts Place. !GAB EHCUOD!
Cmu – chill. Mr. B is talking safety when referring to correct use. This place doesn’t meet the safety reqs for a more dense use.
No… it is not what it was built for.
It was built without any zoning.
The sterilize your neighborhood zoning came later.
Nothing like living in a self-imposed Sarcophagus of a neighborhood unaware that dense commercial activity was the only reason for the block.
I saw elitism in the fact that it’s no longer a single-family, $2million house. ‘elitist’…catering to a select group (in this case, those who define a building by it’s original, immutable purpose).
If the building can be used in a way more useful to the community (which seems to be the case, given the nature of the block, it’s not the E 60’s is it?)…why make a comment implying that it’s not the ‘correct’ use?
Or did I misunderstand?
What’s elitist about that? It’s what it was built for and what it is zoned for?
“…consistent with its use as a one- or two-family house”
What an elitist crock of a statement. As if there’s only one ‘use’ for a building.
HouseNut, the block association killed that.
MM-
Love the Wild Bunch reference. Saw it again just last week.
The Wild Bunch rolling into the Brooklyn Flea is my image for the day.