Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
A stone’s throw from the Brooklyn Bridge, at 70 Middagh St. in the historic Fulton Ferry neighborhood, stands a charming 10-unit apartment building, built in 1897.
But more than a century of residential use took its toll on the rent-stabilized building, and by 2019 few of its essential systems had been replaced.
That’s when David Gomez found a way to square the math.
State law exempted “substantially rehabilitated” buildings from rent-stabilization rules, allowing their owners to charge market rents.
Gomez’s real-estate-development firm, Peak Capital Advisors, could thus restore the building and recoup its multimillion-dollar gut-renovation investment.
But now, Peak has become the latest victim in New York state’s war on developers.
Albany is retroactively challenging $150 million of investments the company poured into restoring 70 Middaugh St. and 30 other buildings across the city — investments made under rules that the state itself created to incentivize housing rehabilitation.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post
______________________
Adam Lehodey is an investigative reporter at City Journal, covering governance, economics, and cultural affairs in New York City.