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The excavation site in Brooklyn that was the scene to the tragic deadly collapse of the adjacent building was owned by an LLC seeking to build a 56,000 square-foot mixed-use building, including a grocery store on the ground floor and eight more stories of residential apartments, city records show.

The building that collapsed was a three-story building with a business on the ground floor and multiple apartments inside. It was located next to an excavation site where a one-story building had previously stood before being fully demolished in 2025.

According to city records, excavation at this site began in September. That work includes blasting rock.

It is unclear what exactly caused the building to collapse, whether it was an issue with that building itself or whether work at the excavation site led to the tragedy unfolding. While the investigation into the cause was far from complete, documents filed by the property owner suggest structural conditions of the building that collapsed were not ideal — and excavation of the kind that was going on next door is always sensitive.

New York City’s buildings commissioner said workers had been excavating on the site in the hours leading up to the collapse of the adjacent building. According to a building application, construction workers intended to dig down a maximum of 14 feet on the site.

“They have a plan approved for a three-story building. But they are currently applying for a nine-story building which has not yet been approved for,” said DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani.

Buried in the application for that bigger, not-yet-approved plan was a pre-construction inspection report, the I-Team found. It shows meticulous photos from nearly every angle of the adjacent building that collapsed. It also points out cracks and masonry misalignments, concluding the north wall next to the construction site was in “poor” condition with a “wide range of major deficiencies.”

The owner of the construction site, a limited liability company run by Robert Fischman and his associates, did not immediately respond to messages.

NBC New York was also unable to reach the owner of the building that collapsed. The engineer that applied for the excavation permit was a Linden, New Jersey, company called LMW.  That firm did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Another building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, but its wall was shorn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing.

Two people died and at least 17 people were hurt, four of whom were in critical condition, the FDNY said at a press conference Wednesday night. The others suffered less serious injuries. Seven children were among the victims, according to the FDNY, along with a firefighter who had minor injuries.

The fire department noted that the number of victims could increase, as it was not known how many people were in the building at the time of the collapse, and if everyone had been accounted for.

The FDNY did not share the ages of the two people killed or if any children died.

The city’s Office of Emergency Management advised people avoid the area, as traffic delays and road closures could be expected. Flatbush Avenue remained closed from Clarendon Road to Bedford Avenue.

A drone hovered over the site as firefighters dug by hand, tossing chunks of rubble aside. Rescuers also used dogs to sniff for survivors. As darkness fell, firefighters used flashlights to illuminate the area where they worked. The senior city official said rescue operations were ongoing, with searches still being conducted.

Multiple teams responded to the scene. An investigation into the collapse is ongoing. The Department of Buildings said inspectors were at the scene to assist with recovery operations and to conduct structural stability inspections of surrounding buildings.