Kensington Stables Will Go Up For Auction In November

KENSINGTON, BROOKLYN — Kensington Stables will go up for auction in November after a tentative deal struck with the city to buy the property fell through, the agent managing the property's sale told Patch.

The stables, up for sale to pay off unpaid tax debt racked up by the previous owner, will be put up for auction on November 8 at 11 a.m. "The property will be sold to the highest bidder," agent Marc Yaverbaum told Patch.

Yaverbaum said the sale to the city ultimately fell through because the stables operator, Walker Blankenship, didn't think he had the money to maintain the horses once the city took the property over.

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City Councilman Brad Lander, who represents the area, said that once the city bought the property, it would have to vacate the animals until significant repairs could be made for safety concerns. The city would start an open bidding process for stable operators that would ask for, among other things, a plan to make those safety upgrades.

Blankenship was planning to submit a bid of his own to operate the stable under city ownership, but Yaverbaum said that in the mean time, Blankenship would have to feed, groom and house the horses.

"The hang up was that the city wasn’t prepared to put the property and make it available for bids for people to take over the stable," Yaverbaum said. "They didn’t feel like they’d be able to accomplish that until three years after the purchase of the property."

Three years was too much time for Blankenship to take care of the horses, Yaverbaum said.

"He would incur a cost of possibly in excess of a million dollars," Yaverbaum said. "It was a financial decision more than anything for the family."

Blankenship, whose father left him saddled with the tax debt, could still end up selling the property to someone else before the actuion date.

"There’s a possibility of someone else stepping in," Yaverbaum said. "But as of now the auction sale is moving forward to the highest bidder."

It's unclear what would happen to the stable if an outside buyer purchased the property. Lander, the city councilman, vowed earlier this year that he wouldn't approve any rezoning for the lot that doesn't include keeping it as a stable.

Lander's office declined to comment to Patch on Wednesday. Patch has also reached out to the Parks Department for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

Image: Patch file photo