Ownership has transferred on three four-story rent-stabilized buildings at 1018 and 1074 Eastern Parkway and 1392 Sterling Place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The prewar structures yield a combined 88 rent-stabilized units and were sold on Wednesday for a total consideration of $7.6 million. The sale clears the way for a city-supported rehabilitation of the three properties, which together carry 991 open housing code violations and sit in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development's Alternative Enforcement Program.
The transfer did not arrive through a city enforcement action but through an auction stemming from a judgment in a personal injury case dating back more than 15 years. Rehabilitation work is expected to cost in the ballpark of $10 million, with a financial needs assessment ongoing. The buildings will be owned and operated through a housing development fund corporation, a nonprofit structure subject to increased HPD supervision. The buildings date to the 1920s: 1074 Eastern Parkway was built in 1922, 1018 Eastern Parkway in 1923, and 1392 Sterling Place in 1928, containing 31, 34, and 23 units, respectively.
All three buildings are enrolled in the Alternative Enforcement Program, the annual designation reserved for the 250 buildings citywide with the most severe uncorrected violations. That status empowers HPD to make emergency repairs and bill the owner for the costs. HPD has been required to make such repairs at each property, and together with the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants has backed residents in Housing Court litigation seeking to compel the prior owners to act. The shift to a nonprofit ownership structure under increased HPD supervision suggests the rehabilitation may proceed with closer public oversight than under the prior owners.
What remains unknown is the timeline and final scope of the rehabilitation, since the financial needs assessment is still ongoing and the $10 million cost figure is described only as a ballpark estimate. The identity of the new ownership entity and the specific terms of the auction were not detailed in the source. It is also unclear how quickly the 991 open violations will be addressed or how tenants will be affected during any repair work.