ZBA approves carriage-house conversion at 84th Street, finding project essentially new construction

The Troy Zoning Board of Appeals approved DLZBA 20250037, allowing expansion and rehabilitation of a carriage-house property on 84th Street after a series of hearings over whether the work amounted to new construction or rehabilitation of an existing building.

Kyle Engstrom of ME Studio Architects described plans to convert the front house into eight apartments above a ground-floor commercial storefront and to reconstruct the carriage house to provide four smaller studio apartments. He said the carriage house is largely in disrepair and that the project would preserve only the rear facade on Williams Street while rebuilding the rest.

Board members pressed the applicant on unit size and precedent. Several members described studio units averaging roughly 350 square feet as small and said the zoning ordinance’s 700-square-foot average requirement applied to existing buildings. Engstrom and some members argued that because most of the structure will be rebuilt and a demolition permit will be pulled, the carriage house should be treated as new construction and thus not subject to the 700-square-foot requirement.

After discussion the board first found a short environmental assessment form sufficient for a negative declaration and then voted to approve the variance application on the basis that the carriage house is effectively new construction, making the 700-square-foot rule inapplicable.

The board’s approval allows the applicant to proceed with the proposed rebuilding subject to any required building-permit and planning reviews.