Owner sought to convert gymnasium into residential units. Christodora House Association, owner of a fifteen-story residential building located at 601-603 East 9th Street at Avenue B in an R7-2 district of the East Village, sought a variance in August 2004 to convert an unused, interior gymnasium into four residential units.

In its application to BSA, Christodora represented that conversion was necessary because the unique location of the gym within the residential building and its double- height prevented the owner from obtaining a reasonable return on the space. Christodora argued that the gymnasium could not be used commercially because the site is zoned residential, it could not be converted as-of-right to residential because that would increase the degree of non-compliance of the building, and no community facility use would undertake the high cost to convert the double-height gym into usable space. (more…)