Condo Doom! The 18 Stalled Williamsburg-Greenpoint Construction Sites

Brooklyn leads the way in stalled construction sites in New York City, according to a recent Department of Buildings report from their newly created stalled-sites unit, with 18 in Williamsburg and Greenpoint alone. These sites are not only bad news for the economy: many are also rife with complaints and violations from the DOB about a failure to maintain basic housekeeping. The results: cracking sidewalks, defective construction fences, and 18 new unintended hangouts!

In case you want to find out where all the fun is happening, The Observer has you covered:

510 Driggs Avenue

Complaints: 12, Violations: 24

A new six-story residential building—still mortgaged by 510 Driggs Avenue LLC to Bank of America—with recent plans for building a parking lot. Violations include failure to maintain the building’s walls or exterior, and failure to provide a “solid 8-foot construction fence” where construction has been abandoned. According to the DOB, the “damage to [the] sidewalk is so severe” that it’s causing “pedestrians to walk in [the] street.”

120 South 4^th Street

Complaints: 17, Violations: 18

The Bedford Lofts had lofty plans for a 26,000-square-foot, 18-unit glass condo designed by Karl Fischer. Now, the building’s skeleton is accumulating “construction debris, bricks, wood, [and] cement dust.”

146 South 4^th Street

Complaints: 7, Violations: 10

The Mazah Development Group—which is affiliated with the Brooklyn synagogue the Congregation Mazah—started building a 10-story, 75-unit residential/commercial mixed-use building. 

32 India Street

Complaints: 8, Violations: 10

A stop work order is in effect for Miriam Chan of 32 Tower LLC’s building of a condo with a view of the East River. There are four “work without a permit” violations, since the permit expired on Dec. 31, and the interior has had several feet of standing water in the two excavated pits inside the interior since last year. The DOB gets to the point quickly in a violation filed last month: “REMEDY: OBTAIN A PERMIT OR RESTORE TO PRIOR LEGAL CONDITION.”

120 Division Avenue

Complaints: 8, Violations: 18

This alteration to a three-story red-brick apartment by the landlord Abraham Grunbaum has also suffered a stop-work order. Construction debris and broken bricks had accumulated without being cleared away at the time of late April’s inspection.

150 North 12^th Street

Complaints: 12, Violations: 8

A stop-work order is in effect for the construction of this residential apartment building by Elrob Realty. It may be unsafe for construction workers: The DOB says there is scant protection at the side of the excavation, and “the angle of repose” is too steep.

308 Metropolitan Avenue

Complaints: 7, Violations: 10

A partial stop-work order is in effect for construction in the parking lot adjacent to the mixed-use residential/commercial building at 302 Metropolitan. Although the most recent work permit bills itself as not affecting use, egress, or occupancy, the September 2008 violation declares, “WORK DOES NOT CONFORM TO APPROVED PLANS.”

105 Metropolitan Avenue

Complaints: 1, Violations: 0 (surprisingly clean)

105 Metropolitan Lofts Inc. had a five-story, five-unit condo designed by Philip Toscano in the works here. Armed with permits for a sidewalk shed and construction fence, the developer must have made some progress. But—ouch—the DOB still classifies the area as “vacant land.”

294 Rodney Street, 298 Rodney Street, and 302 Rodney Street

Complaints: 13, Violations: 16

Fantastic Builders may not be so fantastic anymore: They’ve halted their alteration of this elegant, 6-story, 10-unit, red-brick apartment-castle.

265 Eckford Street

Complaints: 15, Violations: 32

A partial stop-work order is in effect for Solomon Frand’s lofty plans for a four-story residential apartment complex. But according to the DOB, the space is still a “vacant lot”—with three “work without a permit” violations.

538 Union Avenue

Complaints: 9, Violations: 5

There was a plan for 150 feet of more sidewalk in front of this vacant one-story warehouse. But the construction fence is “defective,” and the DOB cannot reach the owner.

544 Union Avenue

Complaints: 20, Violations: 2

A red-brick factory building was demolished to make way for a six-story, 120,000-square-foot residential condo designed by Gene Kaufman, overlooking McCarren Park. It would have been called the McCarren Park Condominiums. But now the excavation is “deteriorating,” and the construction fence still has holes.

212 North 9^th Street and 218 North 9^th Street

Complaints: 19, Violations: 14

A stop work order is in effect for what would have been a new residential housing building designed by Karl Fischer. But now “vagrants” apparently are occupying the building’s skeleton: the fence is down, and the warehouse is “partially demolished.” Did construction ever even begin?

144 North 8^th Street

Complaints: 113, Violations: 33

They were building a new 16-story Robert Scarano-designed condo called the Finger Building—but the bad news started happening when the owners repossessed an elevator lift because they hadn’t been paid for a year, and construction was costing them up to $6,000 per month. There were some signs of hope in January, but construction has effectively stalled. With 113 complaints, this site is a winner.

55 Eckford Street

Complaints: 24, Violations: 46

Blue Diamond Development was developing an impressive condo here—12 stories with 26 units—but now foreclosure may be looming.

bkavoussi@observer.com