Israel Cohen files plans for 43 resi units to legalize East Williamsburg IMD
57 Thames Street (Credit - Cyclomedia)
Israel Cohen of Shimrit Associates submitted a major alteration application to renovate and legalize an Interim Multiple Dwelling property that is a commercial (COM) building at 57 Thames Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, regulated under the city’s Loft Law. The plan was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on December 17, 2024 under job number B01118570. It calls for a rehab of the four-story building to have 43 residential units. The project is described in the filing as: conversion of existing manufacturing building into mixed-use, residential and commercial building under the provisions of the Loft Law. No change to floor area, bulk, yards or height under this application. The existing records show the building has 56 residential units and 18 commercial units.
Some tenants have refused access to the owner’s architects, according to Loft Board records, including a ruling from the board that the owner did not serve the occupant of a fourth-floor unit properly.
According to the Loft Board record, “At trial, the officer [representing the landlord] recalled that she posted the notice on occupant’s door [on February 20, 2024] slid a copy of the notice under the door, and sent a copy of the notice to occupant via certified mail. On February 26, 2024, the officer posted a second request for access notice on occupant’s door and slid a copy under the door.” The trial judge determined that was not sufficient notice, ruling that “owner did not prove that it properly served the first access notice on February 20, 2024. Owner affixed the notice to occupant’s door and also slipped it under the door, but owner failed to show that it mailed the notice to occupant in a timely fashion.”
The plans call for four retail units, two music recording studios, two offices, five “personal care” establishments and a “clothing storage facility” all on the ground floor, 12 offices and 10 apartments on the second floor, eight offices and 15 apartments on the third floor, and 17 apartments on the fourth floor.
| wdt_ID | floor | comment | description | persons_permitted | occupancy_label | zoning_use | dwelling_units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cellar | GAS METER CLOSET ACCESSORY TO RESIDENTIAL USE | Apartment | N/A | Residential | ||
| 2 | Cellar | ACCESSORY STORAGE TO COMMERCIAL UNIT ABOVE | Storage of non combustible Materials | N/A | Storage | ||
| 3 | 1 | (3) THREE STORAGE UNITS | Storage of non combustible Materials | 6 | Storage | ||
| 4 | 1 | CLOTHING STORAGE FACILITY | Storage of Flammable or Combustible Materials | 69 | Storage | ||
| 5 | 1 | (5) FIVE PERSONAL CARE ESTABLISHMENTS | Business and Service | 16 | Business | ||
| 6 | 1 | (2) TWO OFFICES | Office | 5 | Business | ||
| 7 | 1 | (4) FOUR RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS | Retail Sale | 24 | Mercantile | ||
| 8 | 1 | (2) TWO MUSIC (RECORDING) STUDIOS | Business and Service | 5 | Business | VIII | |
| 9 | 2 | (12) TWELVE OFFICES | Office | 61 | Business | ||
| 10 | 2 | (10) TEN CLASS 'A' DWELLING UNITS | Apartment | N/A | Residential | 10 |
The property
The industrial building with 56 residential units in East Williamsburg has 63,700 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 117 feet and is 207 feet deep with a total lot size of 17,925 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is M1-1 which allows for up to 1 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.1 million.
Prior sales and revenue
The 63,700-square-foot property generated revenue of $768,825 or $12 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.
Violations and lawsuits
According to city public data, the property has received $600 in OATH penalties in the last year.
There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months.
The neighborhood
In East Williamsburg, The majority, or 62 percent of the 17.1 million square feet of commercial built space are industrial buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space. In sales, East Williamsburg has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $282.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 21st highest in Brooklyn. For development, East Williamsburg has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 6th highest in Brooklyn. It had 1.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 10 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the 15 commercial properties representing 8,475 square feet of the 129,612 square feet. The largest owner is Fire Department of New York, followed by Keith Van Sise and then Solomon Kubitshuk. On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 7,975 square feet. It is a 7,975 square-foot mercantile (M) building submitted by Dawson Stellberger with plans filed June 3, 2015 and permitted June 13, 2023.
The surrounding
Within a 400-foot radius of 96 Knickerbocker Avenue, PincusCo identified one commercial real estate item of interests occurred over the past 24 months. It was a loan which Paul Pollack and Judy Pollak borrowed $7.6 million from NVE Bank secured by the 40,760-square-foot, 32-unit rental (D3) on 54 Knickerbocker Avenue on March 31, 2023.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.