RXR Eyes Resi Conversion of Brooklyn Migrant Shelter

A Brooklyn migrant shelter is next on a list of buildings in the city likely to be converted to apartments and retail.

RXR Realty submitted last week to convert a campus of 10 former warehouse buildings at 47 Hall Street in Clinton Hill into a residential and retail complex, according to plans filed to with the Department of City Planning reported by Crain’s.

The development site is a full block just under 114,000 square feet between Park and Flushing avenues, under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and across the street from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, according to the outlet.

The property has been vacant since last year, when it was leased to New York City Health + Hospitals to use as a migrant shelter. Portions of the space are presently being used to house more than 3,000 asylum seekers.

The neighborhood, which includes another shelter a block away at 29 Ryerson Street that houses 800 migrants, has been at the center of media attention in recent months as the site of protests and crime, including a shooting in which two men were killed, Crain’s reported.

RXR acquired the Hall Street property in 2016 for more than $160 million but had to stop in the middle of renovations after the onset of the pandemic. The development slated as “The Hall” was on track to be converted to luxury office space. The lease will reportedly expire in March.

Further detail in the plans, which RXR intends to have completed by 2030, are unclear. However, they include razing two of the buildings for a 21-story mixed-use tower and converting a third building into residential units. The completed project is expected to result in 611 apartments, with up to 183 of them marked as affordable housing. The remaining seven buildings will be a mix of commercial, retail and self-storage across roughly 300,000 square feet.

There have been more than 100 buildings in the city converted to migrant housing, including Manhattan’s Row Hotel. David Werner’s interest in the hotel was put on the market earlier this year.

It remains to be seen when and where the displaced migrants will be moved if Health + Hospitals does not renew the lease before March. RXR must obtain rezoning approval before breaking ground, which will require approval by the city.

— Christina Previte