Squeezing Every Last Drop of FAR on 6th Street
A reader writes in to us lamenting the fact that this cute 2-family brownstone at 353 6th Street is in the process of being super-sized by a developer. Expanding in every direction–up, down and back–the owner, Shahin Assil, is turning this 2,100-square-foot 2-family into a 6-family building. According to Property Shark, Assil paid $880,000 for…
A reader writes in to us lamenting the fact that this cute 2-family brownstone at 353 6th Street is in the process of being super-sized by a developer. Expanding in every direction–up, down and back–the owner, Shahin Assil, is turning this 2,100-square-foot 2-family into a 6-family building. According to Property Shark, Assil paid $880,000 for the place last summer and he’s got another 1,800 square feet of buildable FAR as of right. And because he’s outside of the Historic District, it can be as ugly as he wants. Big bummer for the neighbors.
353 6th Street [Property Shark] GMAP
mhn, I agree that the current density of the South Slope is about right. I would say that right now we have medium density. I don’t want to live in a high-density neighborhood, and I don’t think the only choices should be unlimited-growth high-density urban neighborhoods, or suburbia.
As for my neighbors and their 9-months-and-counting renovation, which looks to be about half-completed — I’m not disputing that they have the right to renovate, and I know very well that renovation is noisy. I’m just saying it sucks and that if you’re doing a big renovation, you can’t expect your neighbors to love you for it. And I called DOB because they were doing structural work without a permit, which was potentially damaging to my own house (attached to theirs). Oh, and cracks were appearing in my walls. And I spoke to their architect before I filed a complaint, and he lied to me — denied they were digging out the basement and claimed the two dumpsters full of dirt that had been removed was just dirt that had washed in during a rainstorm. So I don’t feel bad about filing a complaint.
Are people really complaining about an owner expanding his proprty to within zoning, in an area that was downzoned only 2+ years ago. Thia isnt an historical area and its not likely he can build above 4 stories.
Come on Brownstoner, this is a non-story and the complaining is beyond ridiculous –
I don’t want to build up or out. I was really just using my own situation to illustrate this undesirable trend. Not that I’m against individual owner-occupiers building sensitive, scale-appropriate extensions. And up, within limits, is usually better than out. Just that there should be strong zoning to protect the existing quality of life. Some posters seem to be arguing that because there’s a housing shortage, rowhouse blocks are fair game. Sure, the density is low but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a great formula for urban living — and often historically and architecturally distinctive to boot. Why tamper with it just because it’s not everyone’s reality?
BTW, obvs I dunno if there were extenuating circumstances. & I sympathize with living next to a renovation for 9 months. But some of them do take that long. (I mean, ironically, we’re all reading a blog abt Bstoner’s mega-reno.) and on the face of it some of Rose’s complaints (noise, banging) sounded like par for the course unless there’s more she’s not telling.
I think the scale is less important than ugly vs. attractive. Think of many of Park Slope’s best and most beautiful apartment houses, e.g. 47 Plaza Street West; 9,27,35 Prospect Park West. They’re mid-rise buildings that took the place of shorter single family homes. Unfortunately, in the 2000s vs. the 1920s, we’re getting ugly, poorly constructed Fedders buildings that are billed as expensive “luxury” condos. Ugh.
I agree linusvanpelt. Talking to a neighbor about the problem before calling DOB is probably the better course of action.
yes, your neighbor has a right to renovate and you have a right to complain. This is a free country. You and your neighbor have a right to do a lot of things.
Having workers shouting in front of your house early on Saturday — that’s obnoxious, depending on what you consider early. But jackhammering and “banging”? How do you propose anyone do a renovation without “banging”?
When I renovated my house, it sometimes sucked for my neighbors. When they renovated, it sometimes sucked for me. When it sucked too bad, we’d mention the problem to them or they to us and it usually got solved somehow. Accomodating neighbors — but also recognizing that you’ve got to put up with inconvenience and noise — is part of what you sign up for when living in a dense urban neighborhood of rowhouses.
I live in the South Slope — the anti-development people (to the extent I can speak for them) are not against new construction or “ugly-ass buildings” being replaced by prettier buildings — what we don’t like are 12-story apartment buildings going up in the middle of blocks of single-family houses.
As for neighbors badmouthing neighbors who renovate — well, it sucks living next door to a construction site. The house next door to mine has been under renovation for at least 9 months now — so 9 months of jackhammering, banging, piles of garbage and debris in the front and back yards, construction workers shouting in front of my house early on Saturday morning, etc. I accept that my neighbors have the right to renovate their house, but I also have the right to complain about it! And yes, I have called the DOB on them, when it turned out they were doing structural work without a permit.
There may be several reasons why we haven’t seen more of this kind of development: i) many brownstone purchasers are fulfilling a dream of owning an old house and don’t want to mess with that vision, ii) until recently there have been cheaper more efficient ways to make money as a small property developer (eg. buying vacant sites and building from scratch), and — the gloomy scenario — iii) maybe we’re witnessing the start of a new trend as more owner-occupiers are priced out the market. It’s happening on my block of St Marks Ave, btwn Carlton and Vanderbilt. Personally I’d like to see better protection of light and air rights. If only 40% of my lot needs to be keep as backyard, in theory I could almost double the depth of my house (from 42ft to approx 78, if I did the math right — our lots are 130ft in total). But however aesthetic the design, surely that would be a huge encroachment on the quality of life of my neighbors? I couldn’t do it.