BCN ’s Craig Nassi Eyes Office-To-Resi Conversion

BCN Development’s Craig Nassi is the latest developer to take a swing at an office-to-resi conversion.

Nassi is in contract to buy the six-story Class C office building at 350 West 38th Street from Lai Enterprises for about $300 per square foot, he said. He plans to add six floors and 20,000 square feet to the 1920 building, converting it to 55 apartments and commercial space.

The project is aimed at taking advantage of both 485x and some changes made through City of Yes. The project is eligible for 485x because Nassi is expanding the building by more than 50 percent.

“By doing these developments and getting these tax abatements there’s a huge, huge savings and it makes these projects feasible,” Nassi said. “I think more realistic for smaller developers are these kinds of projects where they’re 50,000 square feet or 75,000 square feet and you’re going into neighborhoods that can use housing, and especially affordable.”

The building will have studio and one-bedroom apartments geared toward young professionals. Nassi said 25 percent of the units will be affordable. The deal is expected to close in March.

This project is in a low-density district with commercial overlays, within what City of Yes for Housing Opportunity calls the “greater transit zone.” The zoning text amendment changed the rules around conversions in this district, meaning the project doesn’t have to get a special permit through the land use review process.

Architect Igor Zaslavskiy of ZPROEKT is proposing to divide the floor plates and put apartments at the front of the building and commercial at the back.

“In order to give new life to the neighborhood and promote residential uses and adapt the existing building, we’re proposing a conversion,” Zaslavskiy said. “The existing commercial is going to stay commercial at the rear because of light and air requirements.”

This will be BCN’s first office-to-resi conversion in New York City. Nassi said he is negotiating a 65 percent construction loan with a past lender and expects the project to cost $40 million.

“It’s time for this type of C product with small floorplates and not the greatest light and air but in decent areas to go toward the huge demand for residential.” he said.