converting 2-family to commercial + 1 family

Does anyone know if it’s possible to convert a 2-family barrel-style house to mixed use? This house IS in a commercial district, C1-3. I would like to use the 1st floor, which is accessed up a half-flight of stairs, for commercial purposes – for my own business – and rent out the top floor as an apartment. Ideally, I would also like to use the basement for my business, too – is this possible? The basement has a separate entrance. The house currently has 3 floors – a parlor floor and the floor above that, and a basement. This house does not have a CO. If anyone done this, I’d appreciate hearing your experience. TIA!

ps158

in General Discussion 5 years and 9 months ago

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BKALLDAY | 5 years and 9 months ago

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I am telling you right now to pray and pray hard your neighbors don’t lose their shit on you. My mom lives on a quiet residential street in BedStuy and there are commercial on both ends of her block and the next but they are a taco restaurant and a dry cleaner on one and a bodega and what was an empty medical space on the other. Someone wanted to open a wine bar. They swore through several community meetings it would be quiet. No live music and they would control the foot traffic. Well when wishes met reality the neighbors next door had to deal with drunken fights, cigarette butts, empty bottles and trash. Music indoors during the week and on the weekends outdoors in Spring, Summer & Fall. They moved and turned their homed into and AirBnB. Now everyone HATES the owner of the wine bar and my mom’s block and the block behind her make sure they rally hard whenever there is a permit for a mixed used business for either end of the the streets. I would suggest you find a block that has no residential buildings to make your venture.

ps158 | 5 years and 9 months ago

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Thanks all. Without going into too much detail, my business would have a lot of foot traffic, and it would need to be in a commercial zone. I’ve considered buying a mixed use, but even the smallest ones are out of budget. That’s why I thought it might actually cost less to buy a 2-family even with the renovation. That said, I’ve never done an Alt-1 before. (I do have experience with a fairly extensive Alt 2 that was near-disastrous, but it all worked out brilliantly in the end.) All this to say, it wouldn’t be my first rodeo were it an Alt-2. But I have a feeling Alt-1 is a different beast. Thanks for the info on the taxes, I will have to look into that more.

cate | 5 years and 9 months ago

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I second what resident2 has said. What kind of business are you setting up in the basement? If it’s a home office or something small in scale it is probably allowed without a change of C of O.

resident2 | 5 years and 9 months ago

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I see no one else is touching this: maybe because it makes no sense to convert a 2 family to a mixed use, in most circumstances.
Small mixed use buildings have a lower value than a two family residential building. So you will probably be spending a lot of money to devalue your property.
What kind of business do you want it for?
Commercial Rate RE Taxes are much more expensive than a two family house (the lowest rate)
The bottom line is; if you really need a commercial use, buy a mixed use building. If all you are doing is an office use, (accountants, etc. with virtually no public access, then just set up your office. And leave the C of O alone.
The bottom line is: to change the CofO after the expense of doing so will trigger a RE Tax re-assessment & make it much more difficult to get Bank financing; either a refinance or to a buyer to get a mortgage. Hence devaluation.