Vendome tenants sue to keep building affordable

Tenants at a historic Clinton Hill building say the city and state fell asleep at the enforcement wheel and now it may cost them their homes. The Vendome building is a historical landmark, known as

News 12 Staff

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Jul 23, 2015, 3:41 AM

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Updated 3,388 days ago

Tenants at a historic Clinton Hill building say the city and state fell asleep at the enforcement wheel and now it may cost them their homes.

The Vendome building is a historical landmark, known as Brooklyn's first multifamily apartment building.

Tenants are suing the city, state and owner to keep it affordable.

The building was damaged by a fire in the '80s. The city stepped in with a preservation plan to save the landmark from the wrecking ball.

Tenants say the building was repaired by a developer and that eventually they were promised they would be able to purchase their apartments as condos or co-ops.

Instead, the building fell into foreclosure and was sold to another developer.

Tenants are fearful that the new owner's real intention is to cash in on the now-trendy neighborhood.

News 12 reached out to the city, state and the current owner of the building. City officials said they could not comment because of the active litigation over the property.