Movement to Preserve Lefferts Place Gem
When 70 Lefferts Place finally sold last summer to a developer, there was a sense of sadness in the community and, especially, on the block that’s been home to the 1860’s Italianate villa-style home for a century and a half. The developer, Christopher Morris, is planning a 7-story, 25-unit condo development for the site. Although…
When 70 Lefferts Place finally sold last summer to a developer, there was a sense of sadness in the community and, especially, on the block that’s been home to the 1860’s Italianate villa-style home for a century and a half. The developer, Christopher Morris, is planning a 7-story, 25-unit condo development for the site. Although neither the block nor the house is landmarked, the block association is making a push to prevent the demolition by spear-heading a last-minute letter-writing drive to LPC. Instructions and addresses for those wishing to participate are on the organization’s website on the link below. Time is of the essence. We’re going to write our letters tonight.
Help Save 70 Lefferts [LeffertsPlace.org] GMAP P*Shark
Civil War Era Gem Facing Wrecking Ball [Brownstoner]
that an old practice that developers use to scam property owners and force them to sell their homes.
it happened all throughout bed-sty. a lot of elderly, retired folks had to sell because someone called the bldg dept and reported a lot of outdated/obsolete violations that are still on the books.
These violations were for ridiculous things that no one would notice except someone with a desire to see the owner go into foreclosure.
should also be noted that the former owner was not a “flipper”. she seemed like a nice person who was raising a family there.
one of my best buddies lived here for years. from what i hear from him, the developer sent the buildings dept after the former owner. piling up tons of violations that she didn’t have the resources to remedy, forcing her hand towards selling. i’ve never understood how that would work since the building always seemed to be in relatively great shape. but that’s the story.
the lot next door was not owned the owner of 70 lefferts. a perfectly fine multi-unit building could have gone there without knocking down one of the prettiest houses in the neighborhood.
better to focus efforts on victorians in crown heights, prospect heights, flatbush and midwood. this looks like, as they would say, a done deal.
Granted that this is not my neighborhood, I’m with PlayaHater and donatella. More power to anyone who wants to landmark properties worth preserving before the fact. But assuming you have a closed deal here, you’re essentially talking about assessing the buyer a fine of millions of dollars for legally buying a property that was for sale.
You’ve got every right to petition the LPC, but IMHO this is the sort of thing that sours people against preservationists (and I have nothing to do with the development business).
It’s a little too late to stop it now..
Where was the Lefferts group when the previous owner SOLD OUT for a paltry $150 a buildable sq ft?(Profiting herself almost $2 million in 5 years)
Why is there this movement afoot to punish the Buyer for exercing his legal rights?
Blame should be squarely laid at the feet of the previous owner. For a mere $2mill in profit, this building will be lost forever. I hope it was worth it for the previous owners. The loss is on their hands…
why not replace the white castle with condos?
I (poster of the white castle comment) think that it is a nice house.
HOWEVER:
I also think that my taxes are way too high, and building a set of condos/coops on the property will generate badly needed housing units for the community while also broadening the tax base.
This house is not that nice — there are other ones like it (e.g. corner of vanderbilt and lafayette), and the purpose of landmarking is to preserve notable examples of unique architecture, not to preserve every old house that has outlasted its useful
I think that this house certainly qualifies as a landmark. But this becomes a mess for buyer and seller now, doesn’t it? I think they already closed, didn’t they? What is the process for becoming a landmark anyway? Shouldn’t the Landmark Commission have been brought in sooner? Or shouldn’t the Landmark Commission have initiated the process themselves? Especially before this late date? As much as I think this house is gorgeous and should be saved, I cringe to think of the financial mess in the making.