Image Credit: GoogleMaps.

Red Hook developer converted commercial buildings into residential apartments. Harbor Tech LLC in 1999 purchased a commercial complex located in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn that had been built in the 1920s and used continuously for commercial purposes. Harbor Tech by 2005 had converted the five interlaced buildings of the complex into 100 residential units.

Thirty-five residents of the complex in 2013 sued Harbor Tech to have the City’s Rent Stabilization Law applied to the complex. In response, Harbor Tech argued that the complex was exempt from the Rent Stabilization Code because the buildings were “substantially rehabilitated” as residential units after 1974. The residents argued that the exemption did not apply because the regulations define “substantially rehabilitated” as requiring the replacement of at least 75 percent of the building-wide and apartment systems. The Supreme Court rejected the tenants’ argument, ruling that rent stabilization laws did not apply because the complex had been converted from commercial to residential, and the percentage of systems replaced was irrelevant. (more…)

Ikea to build a 346,000-square-foot waterfront store in Red Hook. The City Planning Commission approved an application by Ikea Property, Inc., for the development of a 346,000-square-foot furniture store and three ancillary buildings on a 22-acre site along the Red Hook, Brooklyn waterfront. The store, Ikea’s first in New York City, will be its largest store in the United States. The Commission also approved 70,000 sq.ft. of retail and restaurant space and a 6.3-acre public esplanade/bikeway.

Red Hook is primarily zoned M3-1 for heavy manufacturing. Recently, the neighborhood has begun a slow revitalization with the opening of the Community Justice Center in 2000 and with increasing private renovations to its residential and neighborhood retail buildings. (more…)