Kensington Stables Could Still Be Saved After Deal With City Falls Through

KENSINGTON, BROOKLYN — City Councilman Brad Lander said Friday that he still thinks a deal can be reached to keep Kensington Stables a stable.

Last month, a tentative deal for the city to buy the bankrupt stables reached with the property's owner fell through. The stable's manager, Walker Blankenship, didn't want to pay to house his stables somewhere while the facility was renovated.

"The stables are not in good shape," Lander told Patch on Friday after an unrelated ribbon-cutting in Prospect Park. "So if the city buys it, they will have to be vacated while it’s renovated. There's no way the city could own it with anyone in it right now."

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If another buyer doesn't pony up enough money, the stables will go up for sale in November, according to the agent managing the sale of the property. It's unclear if the city could bid on a property at auction.

A solution, though, could come still about in a few different ways.

For one, Blankenship could still decide to move forward with the city's deal, financed by money from Lander and the Brooklyn Borough President's Office.

And once the city bought it, they would review requests from potential stable operators. That group would likely include Blankenship, but the city couldn't guarantee that he would be the one chosen to manage the property going forward.

"We can’t sole-source it," Lander said. "This is how the city does business. The city can’t just pay the million dollars (owed in back taxes). It just doesn’t work like that."

Or, a third-party could buy the stables as an investor or owner and continue to let Blankenship manage it.

"If he can find someone that will do that, that’s great!" Lander said. "The goal is to save the stable. If he’s able to stay because he gets a new investor or partner, that’s great."

The third option, though, isn't so great.

Lander has vowed that he wouldn't approve a rezoning at the property that doesn't include a stable.

Someone could buy the property, though, and sit on it until Lander is no longer in office — if he is re-elected in November, he will be term-limited in four years — and then try to convince the next councilman to rezone the property for condos.

"I’m not going to vote for or support a rezoning of that site from commercial residential during my tenure on the council," Lander said, adding that he would "leave a little room for someone to maybe do housing above the stables."

For now, though "I still have real hope we can reach a real solution," Lander said.

Image: Patch file photo