In case you missed it on Friday, the NY Daily News posted an interesting piece about how developers are creatively converting commercial (and other) buildings into condos. It mentions Jared Kushner’s purchase of Brooklyn Law dorms to be flipped into mega mansions, the upper floors of Montague Street’s Brooklyn Trust going condo as well as the Daten Group’s conversion of the Poplar precinct into residential units.
NYDN: The whole process, including applications and construction, has taken about three years. Work is slated to be completed by this fall.
“It’s like a Broadway show,” said David Ennis of Daten. “It looks easy, but there’s a whole lot that goes on behind the scenes.”
Still, the building’s former life makes for a great story — and helps command a premium price. Units currently on the market have asking prices ranging from $2 million to $4 million.
“You could still see the marks of where the original holding cells were” when Daten bought the building, Ennis said.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission is also requiring that Daten retain the iron bars that engulf the lower-floor windows.
