A corner building at Malcolm X Boulevard and Macon Street that sat vacant for years has been transformed into seven apartments and commercial space, with a children's store now open inside the renovated 19th-century structure. The property at 265 Malcolm X Boulevard underwent a major gut renovation before returning to residential and commercial use, capping a saga that included deed-fraud allegations, a church sale, and a court fight over who actually had the right to sell the land.
As reported by Brooklyn Paper, the building was originally known as 265 Reid Avenue and was part of a row of four mixed-use buildings constructed in 1893 by William Bowers, which together included 27 homes and seven commercial spaces. Macon Pharmacy occupied the corner spot from at least 1900, and in the early 20th century the pharmacy also offered photo developing services, according to the outlet's reporting.
A Church, a Vacant Lot, and Decades of Ownership
By the late 1970s the city had come to control 265 Malcolm X Boulevard, and a church purchased the building at auction in 1978 for $4,200, per the same account. Two years later, that church sold the building to Mission Field Holiness Church for $4,200 in 1980. Next door, 267 Malcolm X Boulevard was then a four-story mixed-use building. Colin Linton purchased it from the city for $2,500 in 1977, then transferred it to Mission Field Church for $1,750 in 1979. Mission Field Church went on to own the building at 265 Malcolm X Boulevard from 1980 and acquired the property at 267 in 1979; the city demolished the structure at 267 in 2003, leaving the lot empty, according to Brooklyn Paper's reporting.
The site's more recent history is tangled in litigation. The parcel was involved in legal disputes dating back to 2014, when a former church member entered a contract to sell the parcel to an LLC, the outlet reports. Church members later alleged deed fraud and ultimately won that case, but a court also ruled that a 2018 contract to sell the vacant building and lot to JAM MXBLVD LLC must be enforced. Court documents cited by the outlet specified that the building had not been in use since 2013, while separate complaints suggested it may have been vacant since at least 2009.
A Quick Flip and a Renovation Permit
The ownership churn continued into last year. Mission Field Church transferred both properties to a private LLC in January 2025 for $1 million, and JAM MXBLVD LLC acquired 265 and 267 Malcolm X Boulevard that same month before selling the properties to Malcolm Terrace LLC on the very same day for $2.75 million, per Brooklyn Paper's account. Joel Rubin is identified as a member of Malcolm Terrace LLC.
A permit for a full gut renovation of 265 Malcolm X Boulevard was filed with the city in February 2025, and the Department of Buildings signed off on the project this past April. Nikolai Katz Architect is listed as the architect of record for both the renovated building and the planned new construction next door. Because 265 and 267 Malcolm X Boulevard sit just outside the expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, the outlet notes that the architect does not need Landmarks Preservation Commission design sign-off for the work.
Seven Apartments, a Rent Question, and What Comes Next
The renovated building now includes seven apartments and commercial space, and its units have rented out over the past 12 months, with three-bedroom apartments listed for as much as $5,000 per month, according to the report. Notably, 265 Malcolm X Boulevard currently has no certificate of occupancy, and the outlet reports that the seven apartments likely fell under rent stabilization laws.
New York's rent-stabilization framework traces back to the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974, which the New York State Homes and Community Renewal agency describes as Chapter 576 of state law, often invoked outside New York City to reference rent stabilization generally. A separate excerpt from the New York State Senate's codification of the act, titled Regulation of Rents, states that provisions apply notwithstanding the terms of any lease or rental agreement — though the available text does not establish how the law applies to this specific building.
Next door, the empty lot at 267 Malcolm X Boulevard is planned to become a new four-story building that will be fully residential, per Brooklyn Paper's reporting. A permit for a four-story, 10-unit building at that address was filed in September, but as of the outlet's reporting, that permit has not yet been issued.
New Storefront Business Amid Neighborhood Turnover
On the retail side, Cosmo has opened a children's store in the renovated corner building, giving the once-empty storefront a new commercial tenant. The opening comes as another nearby business, Verdure, announced it is closing after almost five years in the neighborhood, reflecting the churn that continues to reshape this stretch of Bed-Stuy even as the long-dormant corner finds new life.
