Bronx Courthouse seeks tenant after 40 years

Nearly 40 years after shutting its doors in the 1970s, The Empty Bronx Courthouse On East 161st Street and Third Avenue in Melrose is ready to have a tenant again, be it a charter school or a community group, according to owner Henry Weinstein.

There’s just one problem: the building is in such disrepair that no school could afford to complete the necessary renovations.

Nicknamed the Grey Lady for the marble statue of Lady Justice at the center of its facade, the 82,000 square-foot courthouse features 25-foot-tall ceilings, terrazzo floors and spiral staircases.

After spending $5 million on rehabilitating the landmarked nine-story building, Weinstein says he’s still having trouble finding a tenant who can pay the $25 per-square-foot asking rent. Each floor of the structure covers about 12,800 square feet, which would add up to $320,000 a year in rent per floor.

Weinstein bought the building at city auction in 1998. [NYDN] —TRD