A shuttered nightclub on Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights may swap disco lights for dishwashers, with a new plan on the table to turn the space into roughly 50 apartments, neighborhood observers say. The long-empty storefront sits on the southern edge of Crown Heights, a stretch that has quietly filled up with new housing and retail in recent years, and locals are already bracing for a closer look as the proposal moves into city review.
The applicant, a builder tied to Rabsky Group, has filed plans to convert 103 Empire Boulevard into about 50 residential units with active ground-floor space, according to Crain's New York Business. On paper, the project is framed as an infill-style conversion rather than a soaring new tower, with the existing commercial footprint repurposed for housing.
Public property listings identify the parcel as 103 Empire Boulevard and label it a development site near the border of Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Recent marketing and transaction activity tied to the lot is documented on Crexi, along with building data posted to StreetEasy.
Sale and rezoning history
Parcels up and down Empire Boulevard have been quietly stitched together in recent years. CW Realty Group teamed up with affiliates of Rabsky to pick up a run of properties at 73–97 Empire Boulevard for roughly $42.5 million in 2025, according to transaction records. That kind of consolidation helped concentrate development potential on the block, setting the stage for larger-scale planning conversations.
City planning files show an environmental review for a broader Empire Boulevard rezoning on the public record, as outlined by the NYC Department of City Planning. Market-watcher PincusCo has also tracked activity along the corridor, underscoring how the strip has been in developers' sights for several years.
How this fits the Crown Heights pipeline
The Empire Boulevard plan drops into an already crowded development pipeline in Crown Heights, where mid-rise and infill projects keep stacking up. Recent coverage of new building filings tallies multiple projects that together add dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of apartments to the neighborhood, according to New York YIMBY. In that context, even a roughly 50-unit conversion can carry outsized weight in local debates over density and neighborhood character.
Neighbors and the review process
Empire Boulevard has already turned into a political hot zone this spring. Neighbors recently erupted over a plan to convert a nearby Ramada into a men's shelter, a fight chronicled in coverage of Crown Heights erupts over plan to turn Ramada into men's shelter. That wave of organizing hints at what is likely to surface again here: questions about affordability, traffic, and what exactly lands on the ground floor when nightlife and retail spaces flip to residential.
The project will need Department of Buildings permits and, if any zoning action is required, a public land use review that would bring Community Board 9 formally into the mix. Expect plenty of commentary when the details hit the agenda.
What’s next
If the developer follows through with formal DOB applications and any discretionary land use requests, those filings will set the clock for public notices, hearings, and community board meetings. We will be watching city records and public-notice calendars to see when the concept shifts from paperwork to demolition, construction, and, eventually, move-in dates.
