Illegal Office Space Conversion Leaves Residents Out in Cold

Dozens of families who thought they had found luxury housing in a Manhattan landmark building are homeless, after city inspectors ordered them to vacate apartments that were illegally converted from office space. Inspectors from New York’s Buildings and Fire departments issued a vacate order on the 16-story office building after getting a tip that several floors had been turned into apartments without any permits. Inspectors also found that the building, which is zoned only for offices, was converted without essential fire-safety systems, including sprinklers, alarms, and a second stairway for residents to use in emergencies.

The owners, who carved 60 apartments out of the top 13 floors, never received city permits to perform the renovations or attempted to rezone the building for residential use. The building is owned by Mocal Enterprises, which was charging between $2,900 and $5,000 per month for the one- and two-bedroom apartments. The order to vacate has not yet affected the building’s office tenants.