Single Fam with Office Conversion
Hi all, I’m looking for some general info. There are a ton of topics on here about building conversions, but they all seem different and not quite the situation I am looking at. Details: We have a limestone row house in Bay Ridge, it is currently listed as a single family with office (specifically Dr office … weird!!) in the basement on the title. The basement is currently setup as a separate residential apartment (done by previous owner). The basement is approx 60% above ground with windows in front and back as well as a separate entrance. The house itself doesn’t appear to have a c of o on file, as nothing came back from the title search when we bought early this year. We suspect that the deck, which we want to remove anyway, plus one of the upstairs bathrooms and the basement renovation were done without permits. We want to legally convert to a 2 family, mainly because the basement being an “office” means the house is treated as mixed use or commercial for insurance purposes, plus it will be easier to rent out. Given we don’t have a c of o and it is already setup that way (kitchen + full bathroom) would this require an alt-1? Either way we will need to make sure the entire house is to code, but I’m curious if the fact we don’t have a c of o will actually help or hinder us here. Appreciate any info people can give. Thanks
devinewoodworking
in Conversion 9 years and 2 months ago
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devinewoodworking | 9 years and 2 months ago
Thank you for the response. I kinda suspected that whichever way, it was going to be a pain. If it wasn’t for the insurance I wouldn’t have even asked. Thanks again.
ps158 | 9 years and 2 months ago
We looked at a similar property in Bay Ridge a couple of years ago that we were very interested in. We were wanting to do the same – convert the medical office space to a separate apartment to rent out. In this case, the CO did say “1 family plus medical office” (or something like this.) Ultimately, we didn’t move forward because I didn’t want to deal with the time and expense of an Alt 1\. Plus, the terms of the mortgage would not have been favorable, as we would have had to get a commercial mortgage. Since you do not have a CO, and your title says 1 family plus office, my thoughts are your job will definitely be an Alt 1 to convert to a 2 family. But talk to an architect who can give you professional advice – I’m not an expert. That said, I have to share my personal experience of a place we bought (also in Bay Ridge) and renovated in the past year and did everything by the books. There is no CO on file for our house, but it is so clearly a 2-family – it has always been taxed as a 2-family, the deed says 2-family, the house had barely been touched (it had some original fixtures in the bathrooms and kitchens) and had been used as a 2-family, and it’s a 3-story house where the 1st floor is not even an inch below ground level with all proper windows and egress (so no doubts about it’s habitability.) We filed it as an Alt-2, but the DOB came back and said since we didn’t have a CO on file (which is the standard for so many properties in Brooklyn), they defaulted the classification to a 1-family, and it was up to us to prove it was in fact a 2-family. It does not matter what HPD or DOF or your deed says. If DOB does not have a CO as a 2-family, they will consider it a 1-family! So we then had to prove to them it was a 2-family, or we would have to re-file the job as an Alt 1\. It was hell and a Kafkaesque nightmare dealing with the DOB. Words cannot even describe the pure insanity of dealing with them. But after much stress and sleepless nights, we were granted a Letter of No Objection stating it’s a 2-family. Even though to us it seemed a no-brainer – there are NO GUARANTEES with the DOB! This is not the story you want to hear, but I have to share it so you know what you’d be in for.