A South Williamsburg building crumbled to the ground yesterday, leaving behind a giant pile of rubble and a crowd of bewildered onlookers at the corner of Wythe Avenue and S. Ninth Street.
Nobody was injured when the structure gave way at around 11 am, the fire department said.
And the collapse may have given building owners a leg up — developers were already in the process of demolishing parts of the structure, which stretches all the way to Kent Avenue, according to city records.
Builder Isaac Hager, who could not be reached for comment, bought the property for $42.6 million in 2007 with plans to turn the warehouse-style manufacturing building into several apartment towers, the Real Deal reports.
Neighbors complained to the city as recently as June about demolition being conducted without proper permits at the site, but city officials found no evidence of wrongdoing.
The building — which was the former home of the clothing store Domsey’s Warehouse — was vacant when it gave way, according to NBC New York.
Reach reporter Eli Rosenberg at erosenberg@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2531. And follow him at twitter.com/emrosenberg.
