TRD Pro: NYC’s busiest neighborhoods for alteration work

DOB filings show contractors are zeroing in on Northwestern Brooklyn

RJ Capital Holdings' Michael Abramov with 445 5th Avenue
RJ Capital Holdings' Michael Abramov with 445 5th Avenue (Google Maps, LinkedIn, Getty)

The following is a preview of one of the hundreds of data sets that will be available on TRD Pro — the one-stop real estate terminal that provides all the data and market information you need.

Business is booming in Brooklyn — if you’re a contractor, at least.

The borough saw 633 applications for major alteration projects filed with the city’s Department of Buildings over the last six months, nearly 100 more than were filed in second-ranked Queens.

Manhattan, which trailed Brooklyn by about 40 percent in terms of the number of filings, still far outweighs its neighbors in terms of the estimated cost of projects, thanks to multi-million dollar alterations filed at 450 West 15th Street, the Chelsea office building purchased by Google in 2019, as well as Mount Sinai Hospital at 1450 Madison Avenue in East Harlem and Paramount Group’s 60 Wall Street in the Financial District.

The Real Deal analyzed major alteration projects requiring an updated certificate of occupancy that were filed with the DOB from Feb. 1 to July 31 to find out which areas of the city are most active in terms of building upgrades.

Overwhelmingly, the top of the list is dominated by neighborhoods in the northern and northwestern parts of Brooklyn, including Bushwick, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Bedford-Stuyvesant, with Bushwick leading in both the number of projects and total estimated cost.

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Among 51 projects totaling $13.96 million, 419 Eldert Street, a former dairy plant that’s being converted into a community arts center and theater, reigns as Bushwick’s most expensive filing with an estimated cost of $1.7 million. Peter Zuspan of Bureau V Architecture is the applicant of record on the filing.

Just west in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which boasts 43 projects totaling $9.09 million, is a $1.15 million filing at 817 Bedford Avenue. Baobab Architects is the filing applicant for the project, which proposes adding five stories of mixed-use property on top of an existing one-story auto repair shop.

In a recent TRD study of Brooklyn’s most expensive neighborhoods in the second quarter, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope were among a select group of areas where the average condo, co-op or townhouse sold for more than $2 million.

Developers appear to be taking notice. Architect Tahir Demircioglu filed plans for a $6.19 million alteration to RJ Capital Holdings’ 445 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, a three-story retail building which will be expanded by three additional stories including 29 residential units, according to YIMBY, which first reported the plans.

In Carroll Gardens, Rowan Georges Architect is the applicant of record on a $655,000 project to convert a historic townhouse at 236 President Street from a two-family rental to a single-family home. Built in the late 19th century, the building earned landmark status in 2018 after neighbors lobbied against its proposed demolition to make way for a condo building. It sold in April of this year for $4.9 million, records show.