When It Becomes Profitable To Do So

You hear a lot of talk about whether this home or that building will disappear during the big Flatbush Development Rush (FDR) of the middle teens. There seems to be misconceptions aplenty. For instance, one might assume that you wouldn't tear down a single building in the middle of a row of 10 conjoined townhouses. Or that a certain apartment building would have too many units to discard. Or that perfectly fine Victorian homes might be raised. Some unprotected blocks, like the cute one on Sullivan (tween Rogers and Nostrand) are losing conjoined single-family homes of the variety that Lefferts I has in spades...with those narrow driveways between and second floor decks above the foyers, and often a carriage house/garage out back. You know, like this:

262 and 264 Sullivan, soon to bite the dust. More from DNAInfo

Interestingly, just like my block, this soon demolished structure is zoned R7-1, the same distinction as the 23-story buildings going up 'round these parts. These two houses will be worth more than 16,000 s/f to the new owner, and will likely tower over the rest of the block. For now. Until more of the same, probably a row of the same. When? Why, when it becomes profitable to do so! Don't expect homeowners to hold out for the lowest bidder, either. This is simply how things are done.

Is this a bad thing? Depends on your perspective. Are you one of the incoming renters? Are you selling and retiring? Are you a neighbor? Are you someone who fears height and density? Are you someone who bemoans yet another lost opportunity to demand more affordable units from developers? Is this the sort of block that deserved protections, or is density better suited here than, oh let me just throw one out there at random...Empire Blvd? I'm just taking a piss of course, because we all know we'd be wrapping up a Planning Study around now if it hadn't been for...she who shall not be named. Seriously, she won't. Not gonna do it.

The other day someone was telling me that the worst of the development boom was over, because there just weren't that many more spots to build. Hilarious. Basically, anything is possible. For instance, one wouldn't think you could take a perfectly good building full of rent-stabilized apartments and go condo with them, during an affordability crisis and all...but guess what! You absolutely can. 35 Clarkson was about as affordable as you could get on my block...til the stabilized apartments started going for north of $350K two years ago (they've jumped in price since). The AG even signed off on this giant puppy up in uber-trendy Crown Heights:

382-90 Eastern Parkway Goes Condo. Story here from Real Deal.

The dealmakers expects to sell the units for more than $700K a piece. (So buying or forcing out tenants becomes simply part of the math).That is to say, there is a price point for every deal. Numbers don't lie. Zoning doesn't lie. And your favorite building, location, store, home, piece of land...except where landmarked of course, and even then...

They will disappear, if, and when...(all together now):

It becomes profitable to do so.