Gowanus buyer files to enlarge 84 Douglass 2 days after $2.3M deed

A buyer paid an estate $2.3M for a three-story building at 84 Douglass Street, on the Gowanus side of Brooklyn, and had a plan to enlarge it on file with the city two days after the deed date. This one is a conversion, not a unit count play.

Why it matters

The deed is dated Sept. 14 and was recorded Sept. 21. The Department of Buildings filing is dated Sept. 16, so the plans were in before the deed hit the public record. A buyer who files within 48 hours of closing had the design in hand before it closed.

The direction is also worth noting. The filing takes the building from two dwelling units to one, and describes the job as a vertical and horizontal enlargement and conversion to a single-family residence. In an area where small multifamily buyers usually add units, this buyer is betting on one larger home. Compare the pace with the 30 Newel Street demolition filing, another Brooklyn buyer that moved two days after its deed.

The numbers

• Price: $2,300,000, per the ACRIS deed. The seller is the Estate of Dominick DiMola; the buyer is Douglass BSD LLC.
• Timing: deed dated Sept. 14, recorded Sept. 21, DOB job filed Sept. 16.
• Scope: 3 stories to 4, 2 dwelling units to 1, 4,355 sq ft of total construction floor area, with a stated cost of $769,250, per DOB NOW job B01452045-I1. The job type is an alteration that keeps existing elements.
• Price per sq ft: not computed. The filing gives construction floor area, not the building’s saleable or land area, so a dollars-per-square-foot figure would mix bases.

One mismatch to flag: the DOB filing lists the owner as 198 Shefa LLC, not the deed buyer. We have not established how the two entities relate.

What’s next

The filing is in plan examiner review as of its last status update on Sept. 21. Watch for an approval, a permit and whether the owner name on the DOB record is updated to match the deed. A first permit would show the enlargement is moving beyond plan review.