Peter D’Amato reports for Crain’s:

If you’re looking to hitch your wagon to New York city’s horse-riding industry, a stable investment just hit the market. Kensington Stables in Brooklyn, the last place to paddock horses near Prospect Park, is up for sale after the owner entered bankruptcy this year.

In the city’s early days, horses were an integral part of daily life. Some 120,000 trod city streets in 1908, according to an essay at the time in Appleton’s Magazine. They hauled people and goods and powered commerce. Horseback riding continued as a leisure activity, but over the decades most of Brooklyn’s stables closed to make room for residential development.

Walker Blankinship, whose parents purchased Kensington Stables in 1993 and whose mother filed for bankruptcy, said he is fielding several offers. Local Councilman Brad Lander has complicated matters, though, by vowing not to allow developers to rezone the commercial site unless they pledge to maintain space for horses. That means the buyer either will have to keep the stables intact or include new stalls in whatever is built.

The asking price for Kensington is $2 million—$354 per square foot—according to an online listing. But with the public’s interest in equestrian activities declining, Lander’s position could depress the property’s value.

“It’s a tall order to ask someone to buy it as a stable,” Blankinship said